Halirages Boeck, 1871

D'Acoz, Cédric D'Udekem, 2012, On the genus Halirages (Crustacea, Amphipoda), with the description of two new species from Scandinavia and Arctic Europe, European Journal of Taxonomy 7, pp. 1-32 : 3-5

Genus Halirages Boeck, 1871

Halirages Boeck, 1871: 114 .

Halirages – Boeck 1876: 337. — G.O. Sars 1893: 435. — Stebbing 1906: 290. — Stephensen 1931: 263. — Gurjanova 1951: 605. — Barnard 1969: 177. — Bousfield 1973: 80. — Barnard & Karaman 1991: 322. — Bousfield & Hendrycks 1997: 45.

Halirhages – Stuxberg 1880: 23, 27, 28, 47, 68 (erroneous spelling).

Etymology

The name derivation as proposed by Boeck (1876: 337) is: 'άλς (hav) [= sea, ocean], ρήγνύμι (bryder) [= breaker]'. A more accurate derivation would be: άλς = salt (noun) [prefix άλι- = related to the sea (which is salted)], ρήγνύμι = to break, to break asunder, to shiver, to shatter (verb).

Gender

Halirages is considered as masculine in older literature, but often as feminine in recent faunistic papers. There is no apparent reason for this change and the issue needs clarification. The second part of the name is a (very liberal) derivation from the Greek (see section etymology), so this case should be decided under Article 30.1 of ICZN (1999), which concerns the gender of names formed from Latin or Greek words. Article 30.1.4.2. states that a genus-group name that is or ends in a word of common or variable gender (as it is the case of words ending in -es) is to be treated as masculine unless its author, when establishing the name, stated that it is feminine or treated it as feminine in combination with an adjectival speciesgroup name. Since Boeck (1871) gave masculine adjectival names to H. bispinosus (Spence Bate, 1857) , H. tridentatus Bruzelius, 1859 and H. fulvocinctus (M. Sars, 1859) (and an adjectival name, which can be either masculine or feminine to H. borealis Boeck, 1871 ), Halirages should be treated as masculine.

Type species

Amphithoë fulvocincta M. Sars, 1859 , designated by Boeck (1876: 337).

Composition

Halirages caecus Kamenskaya, 1980 ; H. cainae sp. nov.; H. fulvocinctus (M. Sars, 1859) (= H. tricuspis Stimpson, 1863 , = H. bispinosus Stephensen, 1917 ); H. gorbunovi Gurjanova, 1946 ; H. mixtus Stephensen, 1931 ; H. nilssoni Ohlin, 1895 ; H. qvadridentatus G.O. Sars, 1877 ; H. stappersi sp. nov. There is also a Halirhages [sic.] maculatus Stuxberg, 1880 , which is a nomen nudum ( Stuxberg 1880, 1882).

Description

Body gammaromorphic, compressed. Rostrum small; anterior lobe of head not acute, posteriorly followed by narrow sinus; ventral lobe of head medium-sized, pointing forward, neither serrate nor crenulate, acute (most species) or rounded ( H. mixtus ). Eyes variable in shape, with ommatidia welldeveloped to indistinct, said to be absent in some deep-sea species. Antennae subequal, flagella long, peduncular articles of antenna 1 progressively shorter; article 1 of primary flagellum ordinary, accessory flagellum absent; calceoli present in adult males. Upper lip entire, sub-rounded, broader than long, epistome unproduced. Lower lip with inner lobes present, of variable development. Mandible: molar triturative, striated, columnar; articles 2 and 3 of palp slender; article 3 of palp as long as article 2, with posterior border regularly concave and lined by row of setae on distal 0.8, with or without proximal transverse row of setae. Maxilla 1: inner plate with 8-10 setae; outer plate with 8-10 spines; palp long, asymmetrical: left article 2 with row of long styliform marginal spines and margino-facial setae; right article 2 with row of stout conical marginal spines (more or less fused with article 2), with 2 longer anterodistal freely articulated spines, with margino-facial row of setae. Maxilla 2: plates narrow; inner plate neither broader nor longer than outer plate, with facial row of setae and with medial row of setae. Maxilliped with inner and outer plates broad and subequal; palp of 4 articles, article 4 shorter than article 3. Coxae of pereiopods medium-sized, ordinary in shape, coxa 1 slightly produced anteriorly or not produced, coxa 4 posteriorly excavate. Gnathopods alike, similar in both sexes, subchelate, feeble; carpus and propodus narrow (or at least not broad); carpus without posterior lobe, with numerous long posterior setae; palm oblique; dactylus toothed along inner margin. Pereiopods 3-7 ordinary, slender; dactyli long, without spines or setae. Epimeron 3 posteriorly serrate, either rounded or angular. Uropods 1-2: outer ramus shorter than inner ramus; rami marginally spiny and terminated by 4 spines. Uropod 3 large, with peduncle elongate, with rami spinose/setose on both sides, lanceolate, subequal, or inner ramus slightly longer than outer one. Telson elongate (less in H. mixtus than in other species), pointed or emarginate, with or without lateral subdistal teeth.

Distribution

Arctic and sub-Arctic Seas; 0-3530 m.

Remarks

The species accepted in Halirages are the two new species described herein and those included by Barnard & Karaman (1991). The latter authors transferred Halirages bungei Gurjanova, 1951 to Paracalliopella Tzvetkova & Kudrjaschov, 1975, H. megalops (Buchholz, 1874) to Apherusa Walker, 1891 , and H. huxleyanus (Spence Bate, 1862) , H. batei (Cunningham, 1871) and H. regis (Stebbing, 1914) to Austroregia Barnard, 1989 . Stephensen (1931) pointed out that the borderline between the genera Halirages and Apherusa is fuzzy. His remark remains more pertinent than ever, and a more consistent delimitation and definition of Arctic and sub-Arctic calliopiid genera would be more than welcome.