Deep-water Pycnogonida from recent cruises to Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, with an appendix of new records from Polynesia and descriptions of five new species

Abstract

Deep-sea pycnogonid material collected during the N/O Alis Campagnes SalomonBOA 3 to the Solomon Islands in 2007, Terasses to New Caledonia in 2008, Tarasoc to the Tuamoto Archipelago and Tarava Seamounts in 2009, Biopapua to Papua New Guinea in 2010, and Exbodi to New Caledonia in 2011, has been analyzed. This includes the first collection of deep-sea pycnogonids from the waters of Papua New Guinea. The material includes 71 specimens from 14 species in seven genera. Most are frequently-recorded species of the genus Colossendeis, but there are also four species new to science, Ascorhynchus quartogibbus n. sp., Cilunculus roni n. sp., Phoxichilidium alis n. sp., Pycnogonum papua n. sp. A specimen from New Caledonia, identified by Stock in 1997 as Pycnogonum occa Loman, 1908, but not figured or described, has been re-examined, and found also to be a distinct species, Pycnogonum staplesi n. sp.