Scopelocheiropsis Schellenberg, 1926

Kilgallen, Niamh M. & Lowry, James K., 2015, A review of the scopelocheirid amphipods (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Lysianassoidea), with the description of new taxa from Australian waters, Zoosystematics and Evolution 91 (1), pp. 1-43 : 19

Scopelocheiropsis Schellenberg, 1926

Scopelocheiropsis Schellenberg, 1926a: 260. - Schellenberg 1942: 110. - J.L. Barnard 1969: 305, key K, 361. - Barnard and Karaman 1991: 527, 434 (key I).

Bathycallisoma . - Ledoyer 1986: 733 (in part, part Bathycallisoma ).

Type species.

Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis Schellenberg, 1926, monotypy.

Included species.

Scopelocheiropsis includes three species: Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis Schellenberg, 1926; Scopelocheiropsis armata (Ledoyer, 1986), comb. n.; Scopelocheiropsis sublittoralis Vinogradov, 2004.

Diagnostic description.

Mandible lacinia mobilis a stemmed, distally expanded, smooth blade. Maxilla 1 inner plate with pappose setae lining inner margin; palp 2-articulate. Maxilla 2 inner and outer plates subequal in width, inner plate slightly shorter than outer. Maxilliped palp article 4 reduced or well developed. Gnathopod 1 coxa large, margins diverging distally; basis slender, linear; dactylus small, simple, highly modified with apical tip. Pereopod 3 carpus compressed, wider than long. Pereopod 4 coxa with weakly-developed, subacutely produced posteroventral lobe.

Discussion.

Scopelocheiropsis has some variable characters, most importantly the absence of a molar in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis (present in the both Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis and Scopelocheiropsis armata ), and the blunt, reduced maxilliped palp article 4 in Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis (well-developed in the other two species). Nevertheless, the distinctively compressed carpus of pereopods 3 and 4, as well as the stemmed and distally expanded lacinia mobilis are strong diagnostic characters which separate these taxa from other groups.