Abstract
A new species of the axiid genus Ambiaxius Sakai & de Saint Laurent, 1989 (Decapoda: Axiidae: Axiidea), Ambiaxius abyssalis sp. nov., is described from the Banda Sea, Southwestern Pacific, at a depth of 3000–3374 m, which represents the first abyssal record of the family Axiidae and even the infraorder Axiidea. The new species shows a combination of morphological features, that places it in an intermediate position between two species groups of the genus, differing in the shape/armature of the rostrum, the length of the article 4 of the antennal peduncle and the morphology of the pleopod I. The genera Ambiaxius Sakai & de Saint Laurent, 1989 (the deepest record—3000–3374 m), Calocarides Wollebaek, 1908 (2000–2036 m) and Anophthalmaxius de Man, 1905 (1788 m) are of the deepest dwelling representatives of the family Axiidae.
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