Lebbeus uschakovi (Kobjakova, 1936), known until now only upon the type specimens (type locality near Iona I. in the north-western Sea of Okhotsk) is redescribed on the basis of an extant female syntype and a new specimen (female) collected in the type locality in 2017. Lectotype (deposited in the Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg) is designated. A characteristic coloration pattern is illustrated. L. uschakovi belongs to the group of Lebbeus species with epipods present on the 3rd maxilliped and three anterior pereiopods, moderate to relatively long rostrum, and smooth margins of pleura 1-3. The species of this group are known from restricted localities at the North-West Pacific shelf, the continental slope of East Pacific, the continental slope of North Africa, seamounts in the southwestern Indian Ocean, and the deep Bali Sea. L. uschakovi has large eggs which size indicates an abbreviated larval development and a limited dispersal capacity of larvae. It occurs in specific hard bottom low-subtidal biotopes with complete mixing of the water column, strong near bottom currents and rich epifauna. Since not many such biotopes outside the type locality at the Iona Bank are known in the Sea of Okhotsk and none are expected in the neighboring waters of East Kamchatka and the northern Sea of Japan, L. uschakovi likely represents a true Sea of Okhotsk endemic species. |
