A new species of Pantopipetta (Pycnogonida : Austrodecidae) from the North Pacific, with a note on the palp articulation

We describe a new pycnogonid species,Pantopipetta lenissp. nov., collected from 141-152 m depth in southern Japan, North Pacific Ocean.Pantopipetta lenisclosely resemblesPantopipetta auxiliataandPantopipetta oculatain having auxiliary claws on the legs, but differs from them in lacking dorsodistal tubercles on the lateral processes, having the first short distal article of palp shorter than combined length of the other three short distal articles, having one slight dorsal tubercle on the coxa 1 of legs, having a short dorsal tubercle on the coxa 3 of legs, and lacking a long dorsodistal tubercle on the femur of legs. The palp base (the short article-like structure proximal to the longest palp article) inP. lenisis articulated with the cephalon, i.e. it is actually an article. Although the palp base has been regarded as a lateral process of the cephalon, it is the first article of the palp inP. lenis