86 



armed with strong setae, in the females weakly armed; the 6th segment 

 is thin, rod-shaped, slightly longer than the 5th; the claw is thin, almost 



74 straight, in the male 1/3-1/2 and in the females 2/7-1/4 the length of the 

 6th segment. Pereopods IV are slightly longer than pereopods III. 



In pereopods V the 4th segment is slightly broadened distally, nearly 

 equal in length to the linear 5th segment, which in turn is slightly shorter 

 than the 6th. In the male the 6th segment in the distal half of the bulging 

 anterior margin is armed with strong, short setae, the spoon-shaped tip 

 of the segment flattened, but well developed, constituting almost 1/5-1/4 

 the entire length of the segment. The claw is long, strong, curved, and 

 pressed to the anterior margin of the 6th segment, which is armed with 

 spines forming an indistinct subchela. In the females the 6th segment 

 is almost bare, without strong spines in the distal part of the anterior 

 margin and, consequently, despite the presence of a strong curved claw 

 freely pressed to the anterior margin of the 6th segment, no subchela is 

 formed. Pereopods VI and VII are the same as in L. clausi. In pereopods 

 VI the 2nd segment is slightly shorter than the 6th, or the 4th and 5th 

 segments together; the 5th segment is insignificantly shorter than the 4th. 

 Pereopods VII are shorter and weaker than pereopods VI. 



The basipodites of all uropods, particularly of the third pair, are 

 relatively broader in the females than in the male. The triangular telson 

 reaches half the length of the basipodite of uropods III or slightly more. 



Notes: L. sphaerica differs from L. clausi in the highly bulging 



75 (especially in the females) pereon, a series of finer structural peculiarities 

 and the unique 6th segment of pereopods V in the male, which together 

 with the movable long and curved claw is capable of forming a subchela, 

 albeit weakly developed. 



Distribution: All records of L. sphaerica are confined to the Kuril- 

 Kamchatka Trench. This is one of the deepest living hyperiideans, inhab- 

 iting only the abyssal zone (including the waters of the trench per se 

 where it was found in a 6,000-7,(X)0 m catch) and not ascending above 

 3,(X)0 m in the bathypelagic. 



12. Lanceola chelifera Vinogradov, 1970 (Fig. 21) 



Vinogradov, 1970: 388. 



Length up to 9 mm (females) to 9.5 mm (males). 



The body has a broadened pereon and a relatively broad and short 

 pleon, which is characteristic of all the species of the group L. clausi. A 

 rostrum is absent. The eyes are small, barely noticeable. 



In antennae I the peduncle consists of short broad segments; the 

 proximal segment of the flagellum is large, broadly conical, and weakly 

 armed; of the three small distal segments, the apical is equal in length 

 to the two preceding ones together. Antennae II are slightly longer than 

 antennae I. 



