Two new species of the subterranean amphipod genus Stygobromus (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) from Siberia, with new data on Stygobromus pusillus (Martynov) and remarks on morphology and biogeographic relationships
Author
Sidorov, Dmitry A.
Author
Holsinger, John R.
Author
Takhteev, Vadim V.
text
Zootaxa
2010
2478
41
58
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.195357
7e6e70f5-6ff6-4ecc-8809-f221e202792b
1175-5326
195357
Remarks on
Stygobromus
morphology
Morphological investigation of the Siberian
Stygobromus
with assistance of SEM revealed additional characters that appear to be taxonomically significant. They include: (1) a naked vestigial segment on the tip of antennae 1 and 2 approximately 10 mkm long (
Figs 68, 69
); and (2) a “squamiferous membrane” located along the inner margin of the propodi of gnathopods 1, 2 (
Figs 71, 73
) in both new species.
In
S. anastasiae
n. sp.
a similar “squamiferous membrane” is located on inner face of both gnathopod propodi at the point of nail origin (
Fig. 72
). Although this character is found in both sexes, males (
Fig. 74
) and females (
Fig. 75
) show some differences in the shape of scales, but which are probably related to age differences of individuals.
The term “squamiferous membrane” was used earlier by
Henry & Magniez (1995)
in a description of the morphology of the asellid isopod male pleopod 2. However, this morphological structure has apparently not been observed in crangonyctid amphipods until now. The “squamiferous membrane” may represent a complicated microtrich characterized by the fusion at the base of bunches of cuticular microtrichs of different lengths (
Mekhanikova & Takhteev 2008
).