(Bate, 1858)
Description
Pereion somites without carinae or protuberances. Telson semicircular or bluntly semiovate. Eyes well developed. Second antenna of female very small, one-segmented. Peduncle of uropods not very short.
Carapace with three oblique folds on either side. Anterolateral angle unarmed. Pseudorostrum prominent and acute in female, less so in male. Telson nearly semicircular in female, rather longer in male. Antenna 2 of male with flagellum reaching at least to pleonite 5. Peduncle of uropod equal in length to exopod in female, shortest in male, endopod much longer, with about 12 spines.
Size
Length up to 4 mm.
Ecology
Found in shallow water.
Depth range
Depth 0-130 m.
Distribution in the North Sea
A widespread species in the southern and northern North Sea, including the Skagerrak.
World distribution
From northern Norway to the Mediterranean and Black Sea, Also recorded from South Africa and from South Vietnam. Bacescu, 1950 has described three subspecies but Foxon, 1936 regarded males with short antennae found at Millport as sexually mature but not yet fully grown and the systematics of the group would repay further investigation.
[After Jones, 1976]