Sinelobus Sieg, 1980

Bamber, Roger N, 2014, Two new species of Sinelobus Sieg, 1980 (Crustacea: Tanaidacea: Tanaididae), and a correction to the higher taxonomic nomenclature, Journal of Natural History 48 (33 - 34), pp. 2049-2068 : 2051

Genus Sinelobus Sieg, 1980

Diagnosis (modified from Sieg 1980)

Tanaidid without palp on labium. Antennule four-articled; second article of antennule not globular; fourth article of antennule without dense distal array of setae/ aesthetascs. Antenna six-articled; antennal peduncle article 2 with or without distal tuft of setae; antennal peduncle article 4 without distal tuft of setae. Maxillule endite with seven or eight distal spines, palp with two distal setae. Pleonites 1 and 2 with latero-dorsal row of plumose setae not reaching dorsal midline. Uropod with basis and distal three segments, distal segment more than half as long as subdistal segment.

Type species: Tanais stanfordi Richardson, 1901 (see Sieg 1980, for bibliography and his suggested synonymies).

Other species: Sinelobus barretti Edgar, 2008 ; S. pinkenba Bamber, 2008 ; S. vanhaareni sp. nov.; S. bathykolpos sp. nov.

Remarks

Sieg (1980), considering it monotypic, diagnosed the genus as having a tuft of setae on antennal peduncle article 2, referring to a group of closely attached setae some of which were subdistal; two of the species described since then are without this tuft; he also diagnosed the genus as having eight distal spines on the maxillular endite, yet, apart from the Sinelobus stanfordi of Shiino (1965) and the new European species described below, all subsequently distinguished species have only seven.

The type-locality of Richardson’ s species is Clipperton Island, off the Pacific coast of Central America; we may assume that the numerous records from elsewhere in the world (see Sieg 1980) are likely to encompass a number of distinct species, given more detailed examination without the presumption of a cosmopolitan monotypic genus as had existed up until Edgar (2008).

Where the salinity is known, most records for the genus are from hypohaline waters, including freshwater sites (see review of the relevant literature in van Haaren & Soors 2009), although Gardiner’ s (1975) record from the Galapagos was in a hyperhaline lake with a salinity between 48.9 and 52‰.