Phylum: Arthropoda von Siebold, 1848
Class: Pycnogonida Latreille, 1810
Order: Pantopoda Gerstaecker, 1863
Family: Ascorhynchidae Hoek, 1881
Ascorhynchus levissimus Loman, 1908
Collection: Andaman Sea – around Nicobar Islands, 8°21.621’N, 93°20.065’E, 621-650m, 14.11.2011 (FORVSS 292, St. 91), 8°23.35’ N, 93°20.534’E, 601-643m, 29.01.2015 (FORVSS 334, St. 07A). Demersal trawl.
Voucher No.: CMLRE/IO/SS/PYC/0001 (FORV Referral Centre, CMLRE, Kochi)
Description: Long, slender trunk devoid of a median row of tubercles; posterior part of the first three segments highly flaring, with second segment the broadest. Smooth lateral processes longer than first coxa of all four legs. Long and slender neck with ten jointed oviger implantation at three- fourths the length of the neck. Four eye spots. Femur and tibia equipped with a row of tiny setae on the ventral side. Auxillary claws absent. Strigilis armed with one main row of large denticulate spines and 2-3 auxillary rows of shorter spines. 10 jointed palps. Chelifore with two jointed scapes. Chela highly reduced with two fully formed tiny fingers or chelae.
Biological association: None.
Remarks: One male and one female specimens collected from cruise 292 larger than the female collected from cruise 334.
Distribution: Bathyal depths of the Flores Sea, Western South Pacific Ocean and Andaman Sea, North- Eastern Indian Ocean.
Distribution map:
Identified by: Chippy Khader
Publication: Chippy K., Saravanane N., Reethas T., Priyaja P., Deepika U., Kumar B. K. & Sudhakar M. (2017). First record of the deep-sea giant pycnogonid, Ascorhynchus levissimus Loman, 1908 from the Indian Ocean. Marine Biodiversity, 47(2), 589-597.
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