Elasmopus diplonyx Schellenberg 1938

Elasmopus diplonyx Schellenberg

? Elasmopus diplonyx Schellenberg, 1938, p. 54, fig. 26.

DIAGNOSIS OF MALE.—Accessory flagellum 3-articulate; eyes of medium size, brown in formaldehyde, turning purplish-brown in spirit, ommatidia distinct though middle ones partially covered by pigment or darkened; mandibular palp article 3 short and deeply falcate; articles 5 and 6 of gnathopod 1 subequal in length; article 2 of gnathopod 2 not lobate, article 3 weakly lobate, article 6 elongate, palm oblique, strongly setose, bearing small, spinose distal protuberance, palm scarcely defined by acclivity and spines, inner face of article 6 with locking ridge for end of dactyl, ridge with 2 spines and 2 setae, dactyl slender and slightly overriding palmar face; posterodistal end of article 6 on pereopods 1–2 with one striate, slightly sabre-shaped spine and 1 small, normal spine, dactyl constricted and bearing a very stout blunt spine and 2 setules; locking spines of pereopods 3–5 straight but striate, main dactylar spines inserted into dactyl but also joined basally to dactyl margin by chitinous membrane; pereopods 3–5 lacking long setae, article 2 of pereopods 3–5 ovate, but posteroventral margin strongly sloping on pereopod 5, pereopod 3 with normal serrations, but pereopods 4–5 deeply castelloserrate almost as strongly as on pereopod 4 of E. pectenicrus; pleonal epimera 1–2 with lateral ridge and sharply produced posteroventral corners, posterior margins sparsely serrate, epimeron 3 quadrate but with slight, sharp protrusion posteroventrally and weak posterior serrations, epimera lacking setae, ventral spines occurring singly; rami of uropods 1–2 with long terminal spines; inner ramus of uropod 3 about 80 percent as long as outer ramus, apex truncate and spinose, outer ramus beveled and truncate, spinose and bearing small hidden article 2; telson of medium length, apices excavate and sinuous or raggedly serrate, each subapex with 2 spines.

FEMALE.—Gnathopod 2 like male but palm lacking distal spinose protuberance and not as strongly setose.

JUVENILES.—Posteroventral tooth of pleonal epimera 1–3 slightly more protuberant than in adult, lacking spines; eye small; major spine of dactyl on pereopods 1–2 sharp but stout, major locking spine of article 6 more strongly sabre-shaped than in adult; accessory flagellum 2-articulate, membrane of spine on dactyl of pereopods 3-5 scarcely evident; palm of juvenile male with fewer setae than adult and armed with short stout spine-setae; each lobe of telson with only 1 spine; inner ramus of uropod 3 tapering, with one long apical seta, article 2 of outer ramus relatively large; serrations of pereopods 4–5 fewer and smaller than in adult but relatively deep even on youngest individuals having only 2–3 notches per article 2.

MATERIAL.—Devaney 1 (8).

DISTRIBUTION.—Marshall, Gilbert, and Hawaiian Islands.