Ampelisca malakalensis, Myers, Alan A., 2012

Myers, Alan A., 2012, Amphipoda (Crustacea) from Palau, Micronesia: Families Ampeliscidae, Ampithoidae, Aoridae, Colomastigidae and Cyproideidae, ZooKeys 193, pp. 1-25 : 2-4

Ampelisca malakalensis sp. n. Figures 1-2

Type material.

Holotype male, 6.0 mm. OUMNH.ZC.2002-24-0078, Halimeda Flat, flat bottom; from washings of Halimeda and sediment, 33 m depth; 07°17.444'N, 134°28.289'E; leg. S. De Grave & P. Colin, 31 May 2002.

Etymology.

Named after a harbour near the type locality.

Description.

Based on male holotype. 6.0 mm.

Head. Head about one and a half times longer than deep, anteroventral margin oblique. Eyes, two pairs each with a cuticular lens; lenses with pigment patches around or near them. Antenna 1 a little more than half body length; peduncular articles 1 and 2 with numerous bunches of short setae on the posterior margin, peduncular article 2, one and a half times length of article 1; flagellum with 24 articles, reaching end of peduncular article 5 of antenna 2; articles 2-3 with field of long setae. Antenna 2 equal to body length, peduncular articles 4 and 5 very long, article 5 a little longer than article 4, peduncular article 4 with bunches of short setae on the anterior margin; flagellum with 26 articles. Mandible palp article 2 swollen proximally, longer than article 3.

Pereon. Gnathopod 1 coxa distally rounded without notch. Gnathopod 2 coxa distally rounded, with small postero-distal notch. Pereopods 3-4 with dactylus exceeding combined length of carpus and propodus. Pereopod 5 basis posteroproximal margin with large discrete lobe. Pereopod 7 basis posterodistal lobe not reaching beyond ischium; propodus inflated, sub-ovoid, dactylus basally expanded.

Pleon. Epimera 1-2 rounded. Epimeron 3 with well developed posterodistal spine. Uropod 3 rami broadly lanceolate, inner margins serrate and with long fine setae. Telson a little less than twice as long as broad, cleft to four fifths its length bearing rows of mid-dorsal setae on each side and with distal margins bearing stout setae.

Female.

Unknown.

Remarks.

Ampelisca malakalensis sp. n. resembles Ampelisca melanesiensis Myers from Fiji, but that species has a short antenna 1 the flagellum of which does not reach the end of peduncular article 5 of antenna 2. In having antenna 1 flagellum reaching the end of peduncular article 5 of antenna 2, this species is very close to Ampelisca jiigurru King from the Great Barrier Reef, but differs from that species in the much more elongated pedu ncular articles 4 and 5 of antenna 2, the basally swollen mandible palp, the discretely lobed posterior margin of the basis of pereopod 5, the elongate and slender dactylus of pereopod 7, and in the scalloped distal margin of the telsonic lobes.

Habitat.

On soft sediment with Halimeda .

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality.