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6.5 Metaconchoecia australis
Gooday, 1981 nov. comb.
Conchoecia rotundata Miiller, 1906a: pp. 83, 84,
pl. 17 figs. 23-34 [partim] - Miiller, 1908: pp. 69,
70- Skogsberg, 1920: pp. 649-658, figs. 122, 123
[partim ].
Conchoecia skogsbergi Iles, 1953 -An gel, 1981: p.
564, fig. 194/88 [partim ?].
Conchoecia australis Gooday, 1981: pp. 154, 155,
figs. 37, 38.
Carapace length -
females: 0.98-1.06 mm
males: 0.90-1.00 mm
Female. Carapace small, subovate; height a little
more than 1/2 the length; rostrum short, curved;
incisure shallow; dorsal margin straight below
the shoulders; posterior margin broadly rounded continuing smoothly into the convexly curved
ventral margin. Right asymmetric gland posterodorsal, near the fusion of the valves; left asymmetric gland on a small anterodorsal node, near
the base of the rostrum; lateral corner glands absent. Shell smooth. Cap of the short frontal organ
united with the stern but thickened and fingershaped, tip subacuminate, adorned dorsally and
ventrally with short hairs except near the tip. Al
short, without a dorsal bristle; of the 5 end bristles, the 'e' bristle is relatively long and smooth,
the 'a'-'d' bristles are shorter, sensory'pipe' bristles.
Male. Carapace similar to that of the female but
smaller. Cap of the short frontal organ separated
from the stern by a joint, rather stout and bent in
the middle, tip rounded; ornamented ventrally
with short hairs and carrying 6-8 spinules proximodorsally. Al 'e' bristle bearing a double row of
12-15 thorn-like spines, 'b' and 'd' bristles almost as long and weakly spinulose, 'c' bristle a
short sensory 'pipe' bristle, 'a' bristle reflexed.
Clasping joints of the A2 dimorphic; right one
larger and strongly recurved, left one smaller.
Penis small, parallel-sided, with a flattened tip;
3-4 transverse muscle bands; seminal tube simple.
Remarks
In our material, the size of females and males remains within the range given above, but Angel
(1981) cites a length of 1.06 mm. We originally
followed Angel in determining the species as M.
skogsbergi (Benassi et al. 1994) but subsequently
obtained a copy of Gooday (1981) through the
kind assistance of Drs. Angel and Gooday. Using
Gooday's approach, this species clearly is australis. The carapace outline matches his drawings in
fig. 37 (Gooday 1981). Further, the left asymmetric gland is located at almost 13 % of the length
behind the tip of the rostrum, and the carapace
height is more than 50 % of the length. The generally small size of M. australis ensures that juveniles are regularly missed by nets with a mesh
coarser than 250.
Distribution
For Gooday (1981), M. australis occurs in 5 stations situated between 39°S and 50°S in the SW
and SE Atlantic Ocean; as well as in one Gauss
station in the SW Indian Ocean. The depth range
of the material studied by Gooday is 250-750 m,
with most occurrences between 500 m and
750 m. In the Magellan Straits, it is confined to
the western part of the sampling area at depths
usually less than 500 m.
6.5 Metaconchoecia australis
Gooday, 1981 nov. comb.
Conchoecia rotundata Miiller, 1906a: pp. 83, 84,
pl. 17 figs. 23-34 [partim] - Miiller, 1908: pp. 69,
70- Skogsberg, 1920: pp. 649-658, figs. 122, 123
[partim ].
Conchoecia skogsbergi Iles, 1953 -An gel, 1981: p.
564, fig. 194/88 [partim ?].
Conchoecia australis Gooday, 1981: pp. 154, 155,
figs. 37, 38.
Carapace length -
females: 0.98-1.06 mm
males: 0.90-1.00 mm
Female. Carapace small, subovate; height a little
more than 1/2 the length; rostrum short, curved;
incisure shallow; dorsal margin straight below
the shoulders; posterior margin broadly rounded continuing smoothly into the convexly curved
ventral margin. Right asymmetric gland posterodorsal, near the fusion of the valves; left asymmetric gland on a small anterodorsal node, near
the base of the rostrum; lateral corner glands absent. Shell smooth. Cap of the short frontal organ
united with the stern but thickened and fingershaped, tip subacuminate, adorned dorsally and
ventrally with short hairs except near the tip. Al
short, without a dorsal bristle; of the 5 end bristles, the 'e' bristle is relatively long and smooth,
the 'a'-'d' bristles are shorter, sensory'pipe' bristles.
Male. Carapace similar to that of the female but
smaller. Cap of the short frontal organ separated
from the stern by a joint, rather stout and bent in
the middle, tip rounded; ornamented ventrally
with short hairs and carrying 6-8 spinules proximodorsally. Al 'e' bristle bearing a double row of
12-15 thorn-like spines, 'b' and 'd' bristles almost as long and weakly spinulose, 'c' bristle a
short sensory 'pipe' bristle, 'a' bristle reflexed.
Clasping joints of the A2 dimorphic; right one
larger and strongly recurved, left one smaller.
Penis small, parallel-sided, with a flattened tip;
3-4 transverse muscle bands; seminal tube simple.
Remarks
In our material, the size of females and males remains within the range given above, but Angel
(1981) cites a length of 1.06 mm. We originally
followed Angel in determining the species as M.
skogsbergi (Benassi et al. 1994) but subsequently
obtained a copy of Gooday (1981) through the
kind assistance of Drs. Angel and Gooday. Using
Gooday's approach, this species clearly is australis. The carapace outline matches his drawings in
fig. 37 (Gooday 1981). Further, the left asymmetric gland is located at almost 13 % of the length
behind the tip of the rostrum, and the carapace
height is more than 50 % of the length. The generally small size of M. australis ensures that juveniles are regularly missed by nets with a mesh
coarser than 250.
Distribution
For Gooday (1981), M. australis occurs in 5 stations situated between 39°S and 50°S in the SW
and SE Atlantic Ocean; as well as in one Gauss
station in the SW Indian Ocean. The depth range
of the material studied by Gooday is 250-750 m,
with most occurrences between 500 m and
750 m. In the Magellan Straits, it is confined to
the western part of the sampling area at depths
usually less than 500 m.