A NEW RECORD OF NEBALIA STRAUS RISSO, 1827 (PHYLLOCARIDA, ) FROM THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

BY

CENGIZú KOÇAK1) and TUNCER KATAGAN Department of Hydrobiology, Faculty of Fisheries, Ege University, TR-35100 Bornova-Izmir, Turkey

ABSTRACT A new record of the leptostracan, Nebalia straus Risso, 1827 (Phyllocarida, Leptostraca) is reported from specimens collected at two sampling stations in Izmir Bay, Aegean Sea coast of Turkey between 2001 and 2002. The is characterized by having a long antennular flagellum that bears up to 11-12 articles (in mature females), a long antennular scale 2.5 times as long as wide, a second maxilla with an exopod slightly longer than the first article of the endopod, and a stout distal spine on the fourth article of the antennule (two in ovigerous females). N. straus is recorded here for the first time from the eastern Mediterranean.

RÉSUMÉ Une nouvelle trouvaille du leptostracé Nebalia straus Risso, 1827 (Phyllocarida, Leptostraca) est rapportée à partir de spécimens collectés dans deux stations d’échantillonnages de la baie d’Izmir, sur la côte turque de la mer Egée entre 2001 et 2002. Cette espèce est caractérisée par la présence d’un long flagelle antennulaire qui porte jusqu’à 11-12 articles (chez les femelles matures), une longue écaille antennulaire 2,5 fois aussi longue que large, une seconde maxille avec un exopodite légèrement plus long que le premier article de l’endopodite, et une forte épine distale sur le quatrième article de l’antennule (deux chez les femelles ovigères). N. straus est signalée ici pour la première fois de la Méditerranée orientale.

INTRODUCTION Records of Leptostraca from the Mediterranean Sea are scarce (Dahl, 1985; Ledoyer, 1997; Marusso et al., 2004), and are all from the northeastern Atlantic and the western Mediterranean. There is no record of leptostracans from the eastern Mediterranean as yet. An examination of collected in Izmir Bay, along the Aegean Sea coast of Turkey, revealed the presence of a species belonging to

1) Author for correspondence; e-mail: [email protected] © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2006 Crustaceana 79 (3): 319-325 Also available online: www.brill.nl 320 CENGIZú KOÇAK & TUNCER KATAGAN

Fig. 1. Distribution of Nebalia straus Risso, 1827 in the Mediterranean Sea and the sampling area (*). (Modified after Dahl, 1985.) the Nebalia Leach, 1814, which is identified in this paper as Nebalia straus Risso, 1827.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Samples were collected by grab in 2001-2002 at two sampling stations off Izmir Bay (fig. 1). Specimens were preserved in 5% formaldehyde and later rinsed with fresh water and transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol. Line drawings were prepared using a camera lucida connected to an Olympus compound microscope. Total length (TL) was measured from the articulation between rostrum and carapace to the posterior end of the caudal rami, excluding setation. Papers used for the identification of the species include Dahl (1985), Martin et al. (1996), and Olesen (1999).

RESULTS

Leptostracans were captured at two stations of different depths (8 and 14 m). In all, 41 specimens belonging to one family () represent a new record of the species that was identified as Nebalia straus, and which forms a new record of Leptostraca for the eastern Mediterranean.