NO. 3 BARNARD: THE PHOXOCEPHALIDAE 301 



Phoxocephalus homilis, new species 

 (Plates 49, 50) 



Diagnosis. — Eyes with well developed lenses; gnathopods with 

 enlarged terminal articles, article 6 of each longer than broad ; peraeo- 

 pod 3 with second article broadly expanded ; uropod 1 with rami 

 slightly unequal; uropod 2 with slender spines on peduncle and outer 

 ramus ; peraeopod 4 not elongated ; epimera of pleon segment 3 nearly 

 straight behind, smooth except for setules; peraeopod 5, lobe of article 

 2 expanding distally. 



Descriptive features. — Epistome rounded in front; eyes small but 

 distinct and composed of several lenses in female, but quite large in the 

 young male; inner lobes of lower lip quite short, much as in P. holbolli; 

 inner plate of maxilla 2 much broader than outer and sparsely setose, 

 the setae being very short ; the fifth article of the first and second peraeo- 

 pods bears slender setae but no stout spine. 



Holotype. — AHF No. 5311, female, 4 mm. 



Type locality. — Station 2293-53, 6.9 mi SW of Newport west jetty 

 light, California, 33-30-00 N, 117-57-57 W, 252 fms, April 23, 1953, 

 mud collected with orange-peel bucket. 



Remarks. — This species is quite closely related to Phoxocephalus 

 kergueleni (Stebbing 1888) and but for a few minor features might be 

 considered a geographic subspecies of it. One of the distinctive features 

 separating P. homilis from P. kergueleni is the spination of the second 

 uropods; in P. homilis both the peduncle and the outer ramus each bear 

 at least 2 slender spines (smallest specimens available 2 mm) while 

 Stebbing's figure shows only one stout peduncular spine and no spines 

 on the outer ramus in P. kergueleni. The expansion of the second ar- 

 ticle of peraeopod 5 in P. homilis extends down only slightly beyond 

 the middle of article 4 while in P. kergueleni it extends about to the 

 middle of article 5 (if one rearranges Stebbing's figure to show the lower 

 part of the appendage as straight). Stebbing's figures also show the third 

 uropod with the inner ramus slightly longer and the first article of the 

 outer ramus but he figured the third uropod of the juvenile male. 



Phoxocephalus kergueleni and P. homilis are distinct from other 

 members of the genus in the slightly atrophic outer ramus of the first 

 uropod. 



Material examined. — 267 specimens at 74 stations. 



Distribution. — Southern California slopes, 50 to 292 fms, rarely as 

 shallow as 30 fms, generally 100 to 200 fms. Dipnetted at Cedros 

 Island, Lower California. 



