Redescription of the overlooked crustacean isopod genus Xenuraega (Aegidae, Flabellifera)

Abstract

The genus Xenuraega Tattersall, 1909, has been overlooked for most of this century. The rediscovery of Xenuraega now brings the number of genera of Aegidae to six. The genus and the type species X. ptilocera Tattersall, 1909, are described in detail. Xenuraega is characterized by the following apomorphies: antennal flagellum extending beyond pleotelson; mandibular incisor absent, distal mandibular margin fused to cephalon; pleon abruptly narrower than pereon, pleotelson small, not concealing pleopods; uropod exopod reduced to short stub, endopod elongate, styliform, nearly as long as body; pleopods 1–5 not contained within or concealed by pleon and pleotelson.