New information about the rare deep-sea genus Munnicope (Crustacea, Isopoda, Munnopsidae) from the North Pacific, with description of three new species

Abstract

The present paper provides new data of the diversity and distribution of the rare deep-sea munnopsid genus, Munnicope Menzies and George, 1972 with description of three new species from the North Pacific and an identification key to the six species of Munnicope. The distribution of this rare deep-sea genus is restricted by the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere and between the depths of 2448–8100 m. Analysis of the morphological features of Munnicope confirmed that it does not belong to the subfamily Eurycopinae, differing in the state of a number of characters diagnostic of the subfamily. Despite the genus combines characters common for some taxa of Munnopsidae, Munnicope also cannot be related to the genus Munnopsurus or other large-sized taxa of munnopsids and, thus, still remains incertae sedis.