(Risso, 1816)
Description
Rostrum short, triangular and upturned with pointed apex; arising behind anterior margin of carapace.
Stylocerite twisted, acutely pointed with spine at apex. Outer margin of scaphocerite slightly convex, apical spine stout, exceeding lamellar portion. Third maxilliped about 1.25 x length of scaphocerite; exopod present.
Mandible without palp or molar process, but with incisor process.
Carapace with prominent branchiostegal spine.
Pereiopods 1 and 2 with slender chelae, cutting edges pectinate. Pereiopods 1-5 with exopods. Basis of pereiopod 2 with single spine; merus with 19-22 spines, occasionally less. Pleonites without dorsal carina; pleonite 6 with posterior directed spine on posterior dorsal border.
Telson slightly convex at apex, with eight terminal spines.
Remarks
In common with Pasiphaea multidentata, this species undergoes diurnal vertical migrations.
Size
Length up to 100 mm, but usually not more than 80 mm.
Colour
Normally translucent, with pinkish or red spots on pleonites and limbs.
Ecology
Appears to spawn twice a year, in early summer and early winter.
Depth range
Pelagic; down to about 20-500 m.
Distribution in the North Sea
Northern North Sea, including Skagerrak.
World distribution
Ranges from W Norway southwards to Mediterranean and Atlantic coast of Morocco.
[After Smaldon, 1993]