GAMMARIDEAN AMPHIPODA 167 



Holotype. — AHF No. 611, male, 4.9 mm. 



Type locality. — Barnard station 41, Goleta, California, wash of 

 rhizomes of Macrocystis pyrifera, 3 m. depth, July 6, 1961. 



Discussion. — The morphological differences among the species of 

 Liljeborgia belonging to the group aequabilis-akaroica-kinahani- 

 longicornis-macrodon-mixta-octodentata are rather weak. Without 

 comparative studies of the species other than aequabilis and akaroica 

 of New Zealand, the standards set by Hurley (1954b) cannot be 

 evaluated. His excellent description and figures of L. aequabilis 

 Stebbing reveal the following distinctions from L. kinahani of the 

 northeastern Atlantic: (1) the slight sinuosity of the palm of gnathopod 

 2; (2) presumably the evenness of the teeth of pleonites 4-5; (3) the 

 somewhat greater distal narrowing of coxae 2 and 3; (4) the stronger 

 spination of the uropods (especially uropod 3) ; (5) the dense spination 

 of article 6 on pereopods 1-2; (6) the distal narrowing of article 2 

 on pereopod 5 with a slightly more distinct posterodistal lobe; (7) 

 the distal expansion of coxa 1; (8) the greater disparity in length and 

 size of each of the paired distal cusps on each telsonic lobe; (9) the 

 relatively shorter distal spine of each telsonic lobe; (10) the very 

 much shorter, more numerous articles of the antennal flagella. 



Liljeborgia akaroica is described by Hurley as differing from L. 

 aequabilis in the following characters: (1) the non-sinuous palm of 

 gnathopod 2 (assumed herein) ; (2) the narrowness of the incision on 

 the third pleonal epimeron; (3) the presence of only 1, not 2, distal 

 setae on the inner plate of maxilla 1; (4) the presence of a distal 

 claw-spine on maxillipedal palp article 4; (5) the slight spinal differ- 

 ences on uropod 1. Character 1 is like L. kinahani, character 2 differs 

 from L. kinahani, and the other points are unknown for L. kinahani. 

 A variety of L. akaroica is characterized especially by the reduction 

 in number and increase in length of major posterior spines on article 

 6 of pereopods 1 and 2 and the finely combed articular margin. 



The group of species to which L. geminata belongs is characterized 

 by the presence of 3 dorsal teeth on pleonites 1-2, no teeth on 3, 1 

 tooth on 4 and 5. The variability of teeth as shown in L. geminata 

 and L. cota J. L. Barnard (1962b) suggests that grouping by use of 

 pleonal tooth formulas is unreliable; possibly closer relationships may 

 be shown between species having 1 or 3 teeth on pleonites 1-2 than 

 between pairs of species having 3 teeth. 



Not all of the characters used by Hurley have been described for 

 the other species in the group; for those only a few characters or 

 combinations can be utilized as distinctions from aequabilis-akaroica- 

 kinahani. 



280-102 0-69— 12 



