Pandalina profunda

Holthuis, 1946

Description
Rostrum short, reaching the middle of second segment of antennular peduncle; rostrum straight or slightly upward at the tip. Dorsal margin with 8-10 teeth, the 3-4 anterior teeth are immovable, the posterior teeth are articulating with the carapace. Ventral margin of rostrum with 3-7 small teeth [Pandalina-c ]. (The rostrum of Pandalina brevirostris is shorter and has less immovable spines at the carapace).
Carapace smooth, with on the anterior margin a well developed antennal spine and a small pterygostomial spine.
Abdominal segments smooth. Plurae of segments 1-3 rounded or slightly truncate at the top; plurae of segments 4-5 with small posteriorly directed spine. Segment 6 two times longer than segment 5.
Telson elongate triangular, narrowing posteriorly; length similar as abdominal segment 6.; surface of telson with about nine dorso-lateral spinules; tip with three pairs of spines, the outer pair is very short, the intermediate long and curved, the inner pair again short.
Eyes large and globular, cornea much wider than peduncle; distinct ocellus present. Eyes distinctly larger than in P. brevirostris.
Antennular peduncle with second segment about as long as third; segments 2+3 slightly shorter than segment 1.
Scaphocerite well developed, gradually narrowing to the tip, four times longer than wide; lamellae reaching somewhat beyond the final tooth.
Antennal peduncle with distinct exterior basal spine, flagellum very long.
Pereiopods 1-4 with epipods. Pereiopod 1 slender, with microscopic small chela; propodus shorter than carpus, which is about as long as merus.
Left pereiopod 2 longer than right pereiopod 2, but not reaching to tip of antennal scale (in contrast to P. brevirostris ); small chela, carpus eight times longer than chela and 14-segmented.
Right pereiopod 2 much shorter than left pereiopod 2; chela half the length of the carpus, which is 4-5-segmented.
Pereiopods 3-5 long, slender, of about similar shape. Dactylus very long and slender, with one tooth close to the tip and about four teeth at the posterior margin of the proximal part of the dactylus [Pandalina-d ]. Dactylus much longer than in Pandalina brevirostris.
Pleopods similar is in P. brevirostris.
Uropods long and slender, reaching slightly beyond tip of telson.

Ecology
May be considered as a deep water counterpart of the shallow Pandalina brevirostris.

Depth range
Depths of ca. 250-1000 m.

Remark
May be a hyperbenthic species.

Distribution in the North Sea
Possible in the northern North Sea (P. profunda has been recorded east off Shetland and off Bergen, Norway).

World distribution
Scarce information; N Atlantic, Subarctic, off Portugal.

[mostly after Holthuis, 1946]

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