Esperanza Cano

Ammotheidae (Arthropoda: Pycnogonidae) collected during the Victoria Land Transect cruise 2004 (Ross Sea, Antarctica), with a description of a new species of Ammothea

Abstract Specimens belonging to the pycnogonid family Ammotheidae collected during the Victoria Land Transect 2004 cruise (Ross Sea, Antarctica) were studied. Five species are recognized in this collection, three species of Ammothea, one of Achelia and one of Austroraptus. Some information about the variability of the propodal armature of Ammothea glacialis is discussed. The rare species Ammothea meridionalis is reported for the fifth time, enlarging its known bathymetric range. A new species in the genus Ammothea is described, Ammothea victoriae. The new taxon is compared with its closest congeners, especially with A. armentis, A. gordonae and A. carolinensis. Both morphotypes of Achelia spicata are reported, some additional morphological differences having been detected between them. Austroraptus calcaratus is reported for the third time, and with our specimens 14 individuals are now known. Present and previous data show a restricted geographical and bathymetric distribution.

Two new species of Ammothea (Pycnogonida, Ammotheidae) from Antarctic waters

Two new species of the genus Ammothea are described from Elephant Island and the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica. The material was captured during the Polarstern cruise XXIII/8 to the Antarctic Peninsula area. The main features of Ammothea pseudospinosa n. sp. are a proboscis distinctly trilobulated distally with a constriction at 2/3 of its length and dimorphism between the propodi of the anterior (first and second) and posterior (third and fourth) legs, and a trunk: proboscis length ratio of about 1.5. The main features of Ammothea childi n. sp. are a cylindrical proboscis, longer than trunk length, and adults with functional chelifores. These species are compared with their closest congeners from the Southern Ocean: A. pseudospinosa n. sp. with Ammothea spinosa and Ammothea allopodes; A. childi n. sp. with Ammothea gigantea, Ammothea bicorniculata and Ammothea hesperidensis.