Lebbeus White 1847

Lebbeus White, 1847

Lebbeus White, 1847: 76. — Holthuis 1993: 219, 237 (key, explanation of conservation of name). — Hayashi 1992: 116–118 (diagnosis, synonymy).

Diagnosis. Lateral surface of carapace smooth (except for supraorbital spines). Carapace with 1 supraorbital spine on each side; pterygostomial spine well developed, sharp; without branchiostegal spine; antennal spine present. Mandibular palp with 2 articles. Maxilliped 3 without exopod. Pereopod 2 carpus with 7 articles. Pereopods 3–5 meri with lateral spines. Pereopods without arthrobranchs. Abdominal segments dorsally rounded.

Remarks. Lebbeus contains 47 described species with the species known up until 2004 listed by Komai et al. (2004). Three species were described later by Jensen (2006). The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution extending from cold to tropical waters, including the Antarctic and the Arctic, although the species generally have a narrow geographic range (Komai et al. 2004). Few species have been described from South America, Africa or Australia. Approximately half of the described species are from the north-western Pacific (waters off Japan, Russia, Korea and northern China) and a key to these species was published by Hayashi (1992). Variation in the development of epipods on pereopods 1−3 has commonly been used to diagnose and group species (Fransen 1997; Hayashi 1992; Komai et al. 2004) but intraspecific variation in the presence of an epipod on pereopod 3 has been reported (Komai et al. 2004). The new species fall into a small group of only four species distinguished by possession of a high crest on the carapace and epipods on the first two pereopods.