Abstract
During the BENDEX expedition (BENthic Disturbance-EXperiment) with RV Polarstern in Antarctic summer 2003/04, species of the genus Austroniscus Vanhoeffen, 1914 were sampled from the continental shelf of the eastern Weddell Sea. Besides Austroniscus ovalis Vanhoeffen, 1914, which is the first record of this species from western Antarctica, two other species were found, i.e. Austroniscus chelus sp. nov. and Austroniscus obscurus sp. nov. They both bear many resemblances to Austroniscus ovalis, but can be easily distinguished from A. ovalis by the shape of the rostral crest and the first pereonite. The two new species are very similar to each other but differ in the number of articles of the antennula and the shape of pleopods 3 to 5.
References
Arntz, W.E., Gutt, J. & Klages, M. (1997) Antarctic Marine Biodiversity: an overview. In: Battaglia, B., Valencia, J., Walton, D.W.H. (eds.): Antarctic Communities. Species Structure and Survival. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 3–14.
Arntz, W.E. & Brey, T. (eds.) (2005) The expedition ANTARKTIS XXI/ 2 (BENDEX) of RV Polarstern in 2003/2004. Reports on Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, 503, 1–149.
Birstein, Y. (1963) Isopoda (Crustacea, Isopoda) from the ultraabyssal zone of the Bougainvielle Trench. Zoologischeskii Zhurnal 42, 814–834. [In Russian with English summary]
Birstein, Y. (1970) Additions to the fauna of Isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda) of the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench. Part I. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moscow 86 (Fauna of the Kamchatka Trench and its Environment), 292–340.
Brandt, A. (1991) Zur Besiedlungsgeschichte des antarktischen Schelfes am Beispiel der Isopoda (Crustacea, Malacostraca). Berichte zur Polarforschung, Bremerhaven, 98, 1–240.
Brandt, A. (1999) On the origin and evolution of Antarctic Peracarida (Crustacea, Malacostraca). Scientia Marina 63 (Suppl. 1), 261–274.
Brandt, A. (2000) Hypotheses on Southern Ocean peracarid evolution and radiation (Crustacea, Malacostraca). Antarctic Science, 12 (3), 269–275.
Brandt, A. (2005). Evolution of Antarctic biodiversity in the context of the past: the importance of the Southern Ocean deep sea. Antarctic Science, 17 (4), 509–521.
Brandt, A. & Barthel, D. (1995) An improved supra- and epibenthic sledge for catching Peracarida (Crustacea, Malacostraca). Ophelia 43 (I), 15–23.
Brandt, A., Brökeland, W., Brix, S. & Malyutina, M. (2004) Diversity of Southern Ocean deep-sea Isopoda (Crustacea, Malacostraca) –– a comparison with shelf data. Deep-Sea Research II, 51, 1753–1768.
Brenke, N. (2005) An epibenthic sledge for operations on marine soft bottom and bedrock. Journal of the Marine Technology Society, 39(2), 10–19.
Clarke, A., Aronson, R.B., Crame, J.A., Gili, J.-M. & Blake, D.B. (2004) Evolution and diversity of the benthic fauna of the Southern Ocean continental shelf. Antarctic Science, 16 (4), 559–568.
Gurjanova, E. (1950) K faune ravonogich rakov (Isopoda) Tichogo okeana V. Isopod po sboram Kamchatskoi morskoi stasii Gosudarsevennogo gidrologischskogo in-ta. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Zoologischskii Instituta, Isseldovaniia dal Nevostochnykh Morei SSSR, 2, 281–292.
Hansen, H.J. (1916) Crustacea, Malacostraca: The order Isopoda. Danish Ingolf Expedition, 3 (5), 1–262, plates 1–16.
Hessler, R.R. (1970) The Desmosomatidae (Isopoda, Asellota) of the Gay Head-Bermuda Transect. Bulletin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 15, 1–185.
Hessler, R.R. & Wilson, G.D.F. (1983) The origin and biogeography of malacostracan crustaceans in the deep sea. In: Systematic Association 23, `Evolution, Time and Space: The Emergence of the Biosphere`, Sims, R.W., J.H. Price & P.E.S. Whalley (eds.), 227–254.
Kussakin, O.G. (1973) Peculiarities of the geographical and vertical distribution of marine isopods and the problem of deep-sea fauna origin. Marine Biology, 23, 19–34.
Latreille, P.A. (1803) Histoire Naturelle des Crustaces et des Insectes. In: Volume 5 of G. L. L. de Buffon, 1802-1805. Histoire Naturelle, nouvelle edition, accompagnee des notes.
Sars, G.O. (1870) Nye Dybvandscrustaceer fra Lofoten. Forhandlinger i Videnskaps-selskabet I Christiania, 1869, 205– 221.
Sars, G.O. (1897) An account of the Crustacea of Norway, 2 (3–8). Isopoda. Bergen, pp. 103.
Sars, G.O. (1899) An account of the Crustacea of Norway, 2 (13–14). Isopoda. Bergen, pp. 270.
Schiecke, U. & Modigh-Tota, M. (1976) Erstfund eines Vertreters der Nannoniscidae (Isopoda: Asellota) im Mittelmeer: Austroniscus coronatus n. sp. aus dem Golf von Neapel. Pubblicazioni della Stazione Zoologica di Napoli, 40 (1), 105–113.
Siebenaller, J.F. & Hessler, R.R. (1981) The genera of the Nannoniscidae (Isopoda, Asellota). Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History, 19 (16), 227–250.
Svavarsson, J. (1982) Nannoniscus profundus sp. n. and Austroniscus norbi sp. n. (Isopoda, Asellota, Nannoniscidae) from the deep Norwegian Sea. Sarsia, 67, 179–186.
Vanhoeffen, E. (1914) Die Isopoden der Deutschen Südpolar Expedition 1901-1903. Deutsche Südpolar Expedition 15, Zoologie, 7 (4), 447–598.
Watling, L. (1989) A classification system for crustacean setae based on the homology concept. In: Felgenhauer, B.E., Watling, L. & A.B. Thistle, (eds.): Functional morphology of feeding and grooming in Crustacea. Rotterdam, A.A. Balkema, pp. 15–26.