Mirandotanais vorax Kusakin and Tzareva, 1974

Błażewicz-P, Magdalena, 2009, A new genus of a new Austral family of paratanaoid tanaidacean (Crustacea: Peracarida: Tanaidacea), with two new species., Memoirs of Museum Victoria 66, pp. 5-15 : 6-7

Mirandotanais vorax Kusakin and Tzareva, 1974

Strongylura antarctica Hale, 1937 ; non-Vanhöffen, 1914. Cryptocopoides rotundata Tzareva, 1982 .

Material. All samples from the Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetland Island), six females, OC-477, Section 1, 221 m depth, 11 May 1985; 6 females OC-485, Section 1, 232 m depth, 10 Aug 1985; 1 female, OC-479, Section 1, 240 m depth, 11 May, 1985; 1 female, OC 283, 258 m depth, 23 Jul 1985; 1 female, OC-275, 60 m depth, 10 Dec 1979.

Remarks. Mirandotanais vorax has been re-described by Sieg (1984: 299–305, figs. 1, 3–5), although with some apparent confusion over gender. In the light of the Australian material described below, it is apparent that the females of Mirandotanais are without pleopods, and the gender-attribution of Kusakin and Tzareva (1974) was correct. Examination of recent material of this species has shown that the distal spines on the merus and carpus of the posterior three pairs of legs are simple, and rod-shaped, not sharp as figured by Sieg (loc. cit.).

Kusakin and Tzareva (loc. cit.) suggested that the “strongly dilated abdomen” and mandible structure were indicative of a parasitic mode of life, but there has been no further evidence to support this contention. Indeed, tubicoly has been inferred by Sieg (1986b), which would imply a non-parasitic mode of life.

M. vorax is a circum-Antarctic species, not common, but recorded frequently ( Hale, 1937, as Strongylura antarctica ; Kusakin and Tzareva, 1974; Tzareva, 1982, as Cryptocopoides rotundata ; Sieg, 1984; 1986a [literature]; 1986b [distribution map]; Błażewicz and Jażdżewski, 1996; Schmidt, 1999; Błażewicz-Paszkowycz and Jażdżewski, 2000; Schmidt and Brandt,2001; Błażewicz-PaszkowyczandSekulska-Nalewajko, 2004) from a depth range of 10 to 580 m.