A psychropotid species, Benthodytes sibogae Sluiter, 1901, collected from Zhenbei Seamount from the South China Sea (at the depth of 2463m) was recognized when identifying the deep-sea specimens housed in Marine Biological Museum, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This is the first species recorded from Chinese waters within genus Benthodytes Théel, 1882. Detailed descriptions of its external feature were provided. Benthodytes sibogae is significantly different from other species of Benthodytes in having five or six pairs of large dorsal papillae arranged in two rows along the dorsum and evenly distributed. Observation of the ultra structure showed that the deposits of papillae differed from those of dorsal and ventral in size and height of the central apophyses, and the bifurcate positions of apophyses. In addition, the morphological characters of papillae deposits were illustrated for the first time. The taxonomic status of this species was compared with the type materials of Benthodytes sibogae Sluiter, 1901 and Benthodytes hystrix Sluiter, 1901. It shows that the number and arrangement of large papillae are important taxonomic features in diagnosing species of Benthodytes. |
