Pseudotanais Sars, 1882 (Crustacea: Tanaidacea) From the SE Australian Slope: A Gap in Our Knowledge

Magdalena Błażewicz,Aleksandra Jakiel,Graham J Bird

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.779001

Magdalena Błażewicz, Aleksandra Jakiel + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.779001

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Abstract

In the current paper, we present the description of five new species of pseudotanaids sampled off the Bass Strait during two campaigns (SLOPE), which took place in 1986/8 and 1994 from the upper continental margin (slope) at depths 200–1550 m, hopefully starting to fill a gap in the knowledge of this major habitat. From five species, two occurred off eastern coast between Gippsland and Jervis Point and three others on the southern coast between Great Otway (Otway Point) and Kangaroo Island. These five species bring the total number of described pseudotanaid species 94 and to six in Australian waters.

Highlights

Pseudotanaidae Sieg, 1976 are small tanaidaceans from the superfamily Paratanaoidea Lang (1949), characterized by their compact body, enlarged chelipeds and a brood pouch composed of one pair of oostegites (Lang, 1949; Sieg, 1977)
We present the description of five new species of pseudotanaids sampled off the Bass Strait during two campaigns (SLOPE), which took place in 1986/8 and 1994 from the upper continental margin at depths 200–1550 m, hopefully starting to fill a gap in the knowledge of this major habitat
The present study provides for the first time information about Pseudotanaidae species from the continental margin of SE Australia near Bass Strait

Summary

Introduction

Pseudotanaidae Sieg, 1976 are small tanaidaceans from the superfamily Paratanaoidea Lang (1949), characterized by their compact (short) body, enlarged chelipeds and a brood pouch composed of one pair of oostegites (Lang, 1949; Sieg, 1977). Pseudotanaids are often numerous and a frequent element in macrobenthic communities, an example being the 36% contribution to the tanaid abundance (7% of macrofauna) on the bathyal Chatham Rise, SW Pacific (Bird and Holdich, 1984; Pabis et al, 2014, 2015; Kaiser et al, 2018) They are present in a variety of marine habitats (Bird and Holdich, 1989b; Bird, 1999; Bamber et al, 2009; Błazewicz-Paszkowycz and Bamber, 2011; Jakiel et al, 2015, 2019; Stepienet al., 2018) and are recorded over a wide bathymetric range. A few large publications have focused on the diversity of Pseudotanaidae (Sieg, 1977; Bird and Holdich, 1989b; Jakiel et al, 2018, 2019, 2020), knowledge about their diversity, community structure and spatial distribution is still severely limited

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