Meeting Abstract

P1.90  Sunday, Jan. 4  The presence of penial lobes in two new Lampropid species (Crustacea: Cumacea), Lampropenis sp. A and Lampropenis sp. B, from the shores of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. MONSON, Emilee*; GERKEN, Sarah; University of Alaska Anchorage; University of Alaska Anchorage emilee.monson@gmail.com

A new genus and two new species of lampropid cumaceans (Lampropenis sp. A, Lampropenis sp. B) are described of specimens from the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The samples were collected in 1917 from the Pribilof Islands, St George and St. Paul, Alaska. Cumaceans are small marine crustaceans. Their length can range from 1mm-30mm, with the larger specimens generally residing in deeper, colder waters. Female cumaceans brood eggs inside a brooding pouch called a marsupium; it is common for the larvae to remain in the marsupium for at least 1 molt. Females in some species may have up to 3 brooding molts, while the males adult molt is thought to be terminal. Sexual dimorphism is highly variable between species. In some species there may be very few morphological differences between the adult males, females, and juveniles. In other species the sexual dimorphism can be drastic. In the family Lampropidae it is common for males to have specialized second antennae, and as many as 3 pleopods. It is thought the second antennae may be useful in detecting a mate and the pleopods aid in motility. Females generally lack pleopods and have small antennae. A defining characteristic of this new genus is the presence of a pair of penial lobes on the fifth pereonite in the males. This character is uncommon amongst cumaceans, currently described from only two species, Archaeocuma peruana Bacescu 1972 and Campylaspenis rowei Bacescu and Muradian 1974.