Description of a new deep-water species of Heteroclinus (Pisces: Teleostei: Clinidae), from southern Australia

Heteroclinus argyrospilos, n. sp. is described as a new species from specimens sampled by sled and dredge in 55–100 m off South Australia and Western Australia. The species has a strongly compressed body and spatulate orbital tentacle similar to some shallow water species, particularly those of the Heteroclinus heptaeolus complex, which is characterized by having three segmented dorsal-fin rays, with the last two rays widely separate from the first ray. It is distinct from other Australian clinids in having two segmented dorsal-fin rays, well separated from the last dorsal-fin spine and a reduced lateral line on the body. It is known from a greater depth than other members of the genus.

Aretopsis sandybrucei, a new deep-water shrimp (Malacostraca: Decapoda: Caridea: Alpheidae) from the Coral Sea

A new alpheid shrimp, Aretopsis sandybrucei sp. nov., is described on the basis of three specimens collected from three deep-water banks in the Chesterfield Plateau of the Coral Sea, between New Caledonia and Queensland, Australia, at a depth range of 280–550 m. The new species is the first known deep-water species of the genus Aretopsis De Man, 1910, with its two congeners, A. amabilis De Man, 1910 and A. manazuruensis Suzuki, 1971, being confined to the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal areas, to a maximum depth of 50 m. Based on morphological grounds, A. sandybrucei sp. nov. can be easily separated from A. amabilis and A. manazuruensis by the generally much stouter third to fifth pereiopods, with their dactyli each bearing a very small secondary unguis on the flexor margin, in comparison to a much stronger one in the other two species. Aretopsis sandybrucei sp. nov. also differs from A. amabilis and A. manazuruensis by the less contrasting colour pattern, including the more translucent, dull yellowish chelae and tail fan. An association of A. sandybrucei sp. nov. with a deep-water hermit crab appears to be highly likely due to the presence of several large hermit crabs (Paguridae) in at least one of the three dredge/bottom trawl hauls, which was also containing a paratype of the new species. The taxonomic status of A. amabilis and A. manazuruensis is discussed.

New species and records of Caulleriella (Annelida, Cirratulidae) from shelf and slope depths of the Western North Atlantic Ocean

Six species of Caulleriella (Cirratulidae), four new to science, are reported from continental shelf and slope depths of the western North Atlantic. The majority of new material was collected as part of deep-water reconnaissance and monitoring surveys along the U.S. Atlantic coast from New England to the Carolinas that were intended to understand the potential impacts of oil and gas exploration in poorly known offshore environments. Additional materials from shallow water and shelf habitats off New England and New York as part of other projects are also included. New species include: Caulleriella filiformia n. sp., C. nobska n. sp., C. pintada n. sp., and C. rodmani n. sp. In addition, new records and comments are provided for C. venefica Doner & Blake, 2016 a widespread shelf species and C. sp., a potential new species represented by a few specimens from rocky nearshore New England habitats. The latter may be related to the enigmatic C. fragilis (Leidy, 1855). A review of known deep-water species of Caulleriella is provided.

Gill morphology and formulae of crayfishes (Decapoda: Astacidea: Parastacidae) from New Guinea and New Zealand and a comparison with other selected species of crayfishes

The Infraorder Astacidea comprises four superfamilies of decapod crustaceans: the freshwater Astacoidea and Parastacoidea and the marine Enoplometopoidea and Nephropoidea. The gill morphology of four species of crayfishes belonging to Astacoidea and Parastacoidea, two coral reef species of Enoplometopoidea, and 2 deep-water species of Nephropoidea are described and illustrated for comparisons and to determine characters characteristic to members of the family Parastacidae (Parastacoidea) from New Guinea. Morphology of the arthrobranchs and pleurobranchs were similar among all species, having a single stem with filament, but podobranchs of the parastacoideans differed from those of Astacoidea, being corrugated and tubular and having filaments. The astacoidean P. virginalis had a plate-like lamella with filament. The two nephropoid and two enoplometopoid species were similar to each other; their podobranch had a flat blade-like lamella without a filament and a shaft with a filament. The gill formulae of the New Guinea species of Cherax were the same as those of the Australian congeners, but the formula of the New Zealand Paranephrops planifronsWhite, 1842 was the same as those of the South American parastacids.

Additional records of Norwegian skate Dipturus nidarosiensis (Storm, 1881) (Pisces: Rajidae) in the Adriatic Sea

Additional records of the Norwegian skate Dipturus nidarosiensis (Storm, 1881)from the Adri-atic Sea are reported. Two specimens were collected in the southern Adriatic Pit in 2008 and 2010, respectively. The records reported herein improve our knowledge on the distribution of a rarely encountered, deep water species D. nidarosiensis, whose presence has only recently been confirmed in the Mediterranean Sea.

Description of a second deep-water species in the alpheid shrimp genus Bannereus Bruce, 1988 (Malacostraca: Caridea)

Bannereus chani sp. nov. (Caridea: Alpheidae) is described based on a single female specimen collected off south-eastern Taiwan, at a depth of 301–356 m, being the second only species in the genus Bannereus Bruce, 1988. The ovigerous female holotype of the new species differs from the female holotype of B. anomalus Bruce 1988, the type species of the genus, by a series of important morphological characters, for instance, on the major cheliped and third pereiopod, strongly indicating that they represent two distinct species. The non-type male specimen tentatively identified as B. anomalus by Bruce (1988) may well belong to the new species, since it differs from the holotype of B. anomalus essentially by the same criteria as the female holotype of B. chani sp. nov. In addition, B. anomalus is newly recorded from the New Caledonian side of the Coral Sea.

The point on Opaliopsis atlantis (Gastropoda: Epitoniidae) distribution: new data from the Mediterranean and implications

Specimens of the rare amphi-Atlantic epitoniid Opaliopsis atlantis have been recorded in the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean) from a hydrozoan stylasterid-rich habitat. The record, which adds a new site to the sporadic occurrences of this prevalently deep-water species, may be considered the first contextualized report from Mediterranean Sea. Opaliopsis atlantis displays a planktotrophic larval development functional for long-range colonization of favorable habitats. Its discontinuous distribution all over its broad geographic range highlights the potential role of Atlantic seamounts as stepping-stones for transoceanic dispersal. Although no conclusive information is yet available upon the feeding requirements of O. atlantis all over its range, we suggest that this cnidarian-ectoparasitic prosobranch could adapt to different hosts, as a strategy that may enhance its wide biogeographic distribution.

A Review of the Living Cinctura Banded Tulip Shells (Gastropoda: Fasciolariidae), with the Descriptions of Four New Subspecies and a New Subgenus

The fasciolariid genus Cinctura Hollister, 1957, which is endemic to the Carolinian Molluscan Province, is now known to contain five distinct species: C. hunteria (Perry, 1811), C. keatonorum Petuch, 2014, C. lilium (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807), C. tortugana (Hollister, 1957), and C. branhamae (Rehder and Abbott, 1951). Four new geographical subspecies are described, C. hunteria apalachee Petuch and Berschauer, n. subsp. (Florida Panhandle to Mobile Bay), and three subspecies from deep water along the eastern edge of the Campeche Escarpment in the Yucatan Channel: C. lilium connori Petuch and Berschauer, n. subsp., C. tortugana traciae n. subsp., and C. branhamae morganae Petuch and Berschauer, n. subsp. The new subgenus Hollisteria Petuch and Berschauer, n. subgen. is proposed for the elongated, fragile deep water species of the Cinctura branhamae Complex.

Deep-water Photinae (Gastropoda: Nassariidae) from eastern Africa, with descriptions of five new species

Deep-water species from the western Indian Ocean off the East African coast and Madagascar, belonging to the subfamily Photinae, are discussed and compared with species from the West Pacific. Phos elegantissimus Hayashi & Habe, 1965, P. hirasei Sowerby, 1913 and P. laevis Kuroda & Habe in Habe, 1961 are recorded from Mozambique and/or from Madagascar, hereby extending their known range considerably into the western Indian Ocean. The East African specimens formerly assigned to Phos roseatus Hinds, 1844 are found to differ from this West Pacific species. In total, five species are described as new: Phos ganii sp. nov., P. geminus sp. nov., P. ladoboides sp. nov., P. pulchritudus sp. nov. and P. testaceus sp. nov.