182 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 18 



Genus Paraphoxus Sars 



Paraphoxus Sars 1895: 148-149; J. L. Barnard 1958: 146. 



Pontharpinia Stebbing 1897: 32-33. 



Parharpinia Stebbing 1899: 207. 



Protophoxus K. H. Barnard 1930: 335. 



Trichophoxus K. H. Barnard 1930 : 336. 



Metharpinia Schellenberg 1931 : 65. 



Type species. — Phoxus oculatus Sars. 



Diagnosis. — Peraeopod 3, article 2 broad; eyes present; fourth 

 palp article of maxilliped long, slender; gnathopods similar in size; 

 molar of mandible smooth, bearing a few spines; maxilla 1 with 

 Particulate palp; ramal apices of uropods 1 and 2 not spinose. 



Remarks. — As can be seen from the synonymy, several attempts 

 have been made to segregate species of this group from each other. 

 Most of these attempts have been based on the erroneous conclusion 

 that the type species of the genus had an uniarticulate maxillary palp 

 and that certain quantitative values of appendages had qualitative 

 meaning. The following discussion will explain some of the reasons 

 for this consolidation, which at first sight appears quite radical. 



When Sars 1895 described the genus Paraphoxus he wrote that the 

 first maxillary palp was uniarticulate. Reexamination of the type 

 species P. oculatus by the writer revealed that the palp is biarticulate so 

 that subsequent genera such as Pontharpinia are not distinguishable 

 from Paraphoxus by this character. Stebbing 1897 based Pontharpinia 

 mainly on this difference, which is considered invalid herein. 



The genus Parharpinia was distinguished by Stebbing 1899 from 

 Pontharpinia by the slender third to fifth peraeopods, but subsequent 

 authors have pointed out the variety and intergradation of these 

 peraeopods between the two extremes of slenderness and stoutness 

 (Plate 1). 



Protophoxus K. H. Barnard 1930 was submerged in Pontharpinia 

 by Pirlot 1932. The reexamination of this genus by Hurley 1954 

 showed that it was indistinguishable from Pontharpinia and is considered 

 a Paraphoxus herein. 



Trichophoxus K. H. Barnard 1930 was based on elongated fifth 

 articles of the gnathopods ; the present research shows this to be variable 

 and intergrading interspecifically (Plate 1). 



Metharpinia Schellenberg 1931 poses a singular problem. The 

 main difference of this genus is in the abruptly narrowed or styliform 



