On the South American species of the genus Meridiosignum (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellota: Paramunnidae)

DOTI, B.L.; ROCCATAGLIATA, D.

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY

Tylor and Francis

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2009 vol. 43 p. 1115 - 1138

0022-2933

Meridiosignum undulatum n. sp. and M. disparitergum n. sp. are described from off the Río de la Plata estuary. These two new species are easily distinguished from other members of the genus Meridiosignum in having the lateral margins of pereonites 2 and 3 bilobed (the concavity is much more pronounced in M. disparitergum), and those of pereonite 4 produced into a single process. The terminal male instar of Meridiosignum menziesi (Winkler, 1994) is described, and this species is herein reported from the Beagle Channel and Puerto Deseado. All the species currently placed in Meridiosignum were found in shallow waters in the southern hemisphere, M. undulatum n. sp. and M. disparitergum n. sp. being the species recorded at the greatest depth (129 m).