Redescription of the rare, deep-sea hyperiidean amphipod Megalanceoloides remipes (K.H. Barnard, 1932) (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyperiidea), including the first description of males

Abstract

Megalanceoloides remipes is a rare deep-sea species known from very few specimens. Until recently (Zeidler 2019) it was known only from the type, an incomplete female, and one other specimen, probably a juvenile female (Vinogradov 1964). Another specimen, an ovigerous female, described by Gasca & Haddock (2016) and compared to the previous two, was later considered to be a new species, M. aequanime Gasca, 2017 (Gasca & Browne 2017). More recently, Williams & Bunkley-Williams (2019) proposed another new species, M. gascae, for the specimen described by Vinogradov (1964). Thus, a redescription of M. remipes is still required, especially in light of the two new species proposed by these authors. The recent discovery of several specimens of M. remipes, including both sexes, in the USNM (Zeidler 2019) has now made it possible to provide a detailed redescription of the species, together with the first description of males, enabling a better comparison with M. aequanime and M. gascae.