(G.O. Sars, 1872)

Description
— Praniza. Full description not available. Late pranizas (juveniles) with pereion segments 3-5 fused and inflated. The praniza of G. dentata resembles that of G. oxyurea, but differs in the morphology of the uropods. In G. dentata, the outer margin of the exopodit of the uropod is provided with two conspicuous and sharp teeth. The distal tooth reaches almost as far as the apical tooth and therfore the exopodite appears to be bifid.
— Male. Only five pairs of ambulatory pereiopods. Cephalon fused with two pereion segments, limbs of the second fused segment modified as flattened pylopods, which cover the mouthparts ventrally. Adult male pylopod of two or three articles. Male with the front of the cephalon centrally tridentate and without a concavity; lateral corners acutely pronounced. Cephalon broader than long. Lateral tooth of the mandible diverging markedly from the mandible itself. Last pereion segment reduced and without limbs; best seen in males, where it is narrow and equal in width to the pleon segments. Male with large mandibles, which project in front of the cephalon and are forceps-like.

Size
Size range of praniza not certain, juveniles have been measured 3-4.5 mm in length. Male body 2.8-3.8 mm long (females up to 4.3 mm long).

Colour
Male greyish white, female yellowish white with reddish spots.

Habitat
Adults typically well hidden in crevices in open marine localities. Recorded occasionally between tidemarks in Laminaria holdfasts.

Host
Unknown.

Distribution in the North Sea
Possibly all North Sea.

World distribution
Not completely known; Plymouth and Isle of Man. The species is described from the Hardangerfjord, Norway.

[description after Monod, 1926]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Subclass Eumalacostraca
Superorder Peracarida
Order Isopoda
Suborder Gnathiidea
Family Gnathiidae
Genus Gnathia
Species Gnathia dentata

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Gnathia dentata (G. O. Sars, 1872)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Anceus dentatus | G.O. Sars, 1872

Huwae, P.H.M., 1977. De Isopoden van de Nederlandse kust. Wetenschappelijke Mededelingen van de Koninkllijke Natuurhistorische Vereniging, nr. 118.

Monod, T., 1926. Les Gnathiidae. Mémoires de la Société de Sciences naturelles du Maroc, 13. 668 pp.

Naylor, E., 1957b. Isopoda. Sub-order Flabellifera, Family Gnathidae, Genera Paragnathia, Gnathia; Family Cirolanidae, Genus Eurydice. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 78 (1957). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

Naylor, E., 1972. British Marine Isopods. Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series), 3. The Linnean Society, Academic Press, London.

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