Heptacarpus brachydactylus (Rathbun, 1902)

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 80

Heptacarpus brachydactylus (Rathbun, 1902)

( Fig. 20A, B)

Spirontocaris brachydactyla Rathbun, 1902a: 898 ; 1904: 93, fig. 41. — Schmitt 1921: 72, fig. 48.

Heptacarpus brachydactylus . — Holthuis 1947: 12. — Word & Charwat 1976: 107. — Standing 1981: 779. — Wicksten 1990b: 594.— Chace 1997: 44.

Diagnosis. Rostrum with 6 dorsal, 2 or 3 ventral teeth. First, second segments of antennular peduncle with small spines or knobs, stylocerite exceeding first segment. Carapace with suborbital, antennal teeth. Third maxilliped with epipod. No epipods on pereopods. Pereopods 3–5 slender, with long, bifid dactyls. Merus of pereopods 3, 4 with 2 spines apiece, pereopod 5 with 1 spine. Pleura of abdominal somites 1–4 rounded, 5 with point; sternite of abdominal somite 5 with tooth. Telson with 3 or 4 pairs dorsolateral spines. Female total length 33 mm, male not reported.

Color in life. Not reported.

Habitat and depth. Rocky bottoms, 486–695 m.

Range. Monterey Bay to San Diego, California . Type locality off Santa Cruz I., California.

Remarks. Most records are from off the islands of southern California, but it is not endemic, as shown by Standing (1981).