Marine Species Identification Portal : Philomedes lilljeborgi

(Sars, 1866)

Description
Shell elongate ovoid to almost circular; surface smooth. Higher and with better developed rostrum and incisure in males than in females. The frontal organ is long, slender and pointed. Furcal margin with long hairs between the claws. Seventh limb with 10-11 pegs, 2-3 times longer than broad. The lower posterior shell margin with a small, dorsally turned round process (Poulsen (1969).
Kornicker (1987) gives a thorough redescription of this species from the Skagerrak.

Size
Female 2.15-2.6 mm carapace length, the male is of similar size.

Depth range
P. lilljeborgi appears to be an epibenthic species inhabiting depths of 50-1000 m, but is most abundant at about 200 m.

Distribution in the North Sea
Northern North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat (Klie, 1944).

World distribution
It has been widely recorded in the NE Atlantic, from Mauretania in the south as far north as Bear Island and the Barents Sea.

[After Angel, 2000]

Philomedes lilljeborgi