The genera Haliragoides and Neohela in the North Atlantic, with the description of two new deepwater species from Norway and Svalbard (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

• Main Author: d'Udekem d'Acoz, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Deep water; New species; Amphipoda [amphipods]; Crustacea [crustaceans]; Haliragoides; Neohela; ANE; Norway; Svalbard; greenlandic; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/289427.pdf

A new amphipod species of the genus Haliragoides , H. niflheimri sp. nov. and a new species from the genus Neohela , N. lamia sp. nov. are described. Haliragoides niflheimri sp. nov. has been found in deep water (1061-1221 m), North of Svalbard (near 80°50'N). It can be easily separated from the sympatric species H. abyssi Gurjanova, 1951 and H. inermis (G.O. Sars, 1883) by the anteroventral lobes of the head. In H. niflheimri sp. nov. and H. inermis these lobes are much longer and more ventrally directed than in H. abyssi . In H. niflheimri sp. nov., these lobes are broad, round-tiped and anteriorly smooth, whilst in H. inermis they are narrow, acute to subacute and anteriorly serrate. Neohela lamia sp. nov. has been recorded in Svalbard and Norway between 80°50'N and 63°10'N and at depths ranging from 860 to 1350 m. Its geographical range widely overlaps with that of N. monstrosa (Boeck, 1861), which dwells in shallower waters. N. lamia sp. nov., N. monstrosa and the Greenlandic N. maxima Stephensen, 1933 exhibit several clear-cut differences, the most striking being observed on the frontal area of head. The anterior margin of head has two triangular submedian teeth in N. lainia sp. nov., a tiny spiniform, median rostrum in N. monstrosa , and a toothless margin in N. maxima .