Ptilohyale aff. barbicornis, Horton, 2008

Horton, Tammy, 2008, Amphipoda from marine caves of Hong Kong Island, Journal of Natural History 42 (9 - 12), pp. 825-854 : 837

Ptilohyale aff. barbicornis

Hyale B ( aff. iole / barbicornis ) Moore 1990: 509.

Material examined

Cape d’Aguilar, Hong Kong Island, from mussel ( Septifer virgatus ) beds, four males, four females and six juvenile specimens, NHM Reg. Nos. 2004.2961–2970.

Remarks. A single male specimen was collected in Hong Kong waters by Moore (1990), who stated that the characteristic feature of the species was the setose second antenna. This character is seen also in Ptilohyale iole ( Barnard 1970) from Hawaii and P. barbicornis ( Hiwatari and Kajihara 1981) from Japan. Superficially, this species looks like P. barbicornis but has some subtle differences that lead me to believe it is likely to be a new species. Antenna 2, although distinctly setose, is not plumose as in other species of the genus. This is not a result of sexual dimorphism, but is seen in both males and females from Hong Kong.