![Thumbnail: [Volume 82, 1954-55 page 765]](/journals/rsnz/images/rsnz_82/thumbnails/rsnz_82_03_0886_0765_ac_02.gif)
G. M. Thomson, 1880: 2 (partim).
1881: 212.
Stebbing, 1906: 211–212
“Back broadly rounded, some segments produced into teeth. Rostrum acute. Sideplates 1–3 more or less acutely tapering, 4th with projecting point of hind margin. Upper lip somewhat narrowed distally. Lower lip without inner lobes, outer incised on inner margin near apex Mandible narrowly tapering to cutting edge, accessory plate narrow, no spine row, molar exceedingly feeble, 3rd joint of palp not very long. Maxilla 1, inner plate with several setae, outer with 10 (?) spines, palp 2-jointed, not reaching extremity of outer plate. Maxilla 2, outer plate the longer, rather the narrower, obliquely truncate, inner still more so and fringed for half its length. Maxillipeds, inner and outer plates long and narrow, outer fringed on distal part of outer margin, 1st joint of palp not as long as 2nd and 3rd combined, 2nd much produced along inner margin of 3rd, finger wanting. Gnathopods 1 and 2 very slender, gnathopod 1 with very small chela, gnathopod 2 more or less chelate Peraeopods 3–5, 2nd joint well expanded. Uropod 3, rami narrowly lanceolate. Telson broadly incised at apex.”— stebbing.
The only species so far known from New Zealand is the genotype, Panoploea spinosa G. M. Thomson, which has not been completely described although Stephensen's figures (1927) go a long way towards this aim.
| 1. | Pr. 4 & 5, basos lower hind corner rounded; Pr. 3–5, posterior margin of basos finely but strongly serrated like circular saw-blade | P. spinosa G. M. Thomson, 1880. | |
| Pr. 5, basos lower hind corner acutely toothed; posterior margin not serrated as above | 2 |
![Thumbnail: [Volume 82, 1954-55 page 766]](/journals/rsnz/images/rsnz_82/thumbnails/rsnz_82_03_0887_0766_ac_02.gif)
| 2. | Pr. 3 sideplate produced posteriorly in long sharp tooth; basos produced in 2 strong teeth; 3 pairs of dorsal processes to peraeon and pleon, the third pleon segment having single median tooth only | 3 | |
| These characteristics not combined | 4 | ||
| 3. | Pr. 3 & 4, basos alike, bidentate; carina on pleon segment 3 ending anterior to hind margin of segment which sweeps in regular curve between the two laterodorsal spines | P. joubini var. bidentata Nicholls, 1938 | |
| Pr. 4 & 5, basos alike, unidentate; small obtuse tooth on pleon segment 3 either side between carina and laterodorsal spines | P. joubini var. joubini Chevreux, 1913 | ||
| 4. | Sideplate 4 has acute posterodistal angle; body has 3 pairs of dorsal processes; epimeral plate 3 has 2 teeth, the superior one upturned; Pr. 5 basos has 3 teeth | P. macrocystidis Barnard, 1932 | |
| These characteristics not combined | 5 | ||
| 5. | Pr 5 basos with 3 distinct teeth; pleon segment 3 with dorsal teeth strongly hooked | P. eblanae (Bate), 1857 | |
| These characteristics not combined | 6 | ||
| 6. | Pr. 5 basos strongly excised distally; epimeral plate 3 with produced serrate posterodistal angle, superior 2nd tooth lacking | P. excisa Barnard, 1932 | |
| Pr. 5 basos not strongly excised distally; epimeral plate 3 with 2 sharp teeth posteriorly | 7 | ||
| 7. | Epimeral plate 3, superior tooth strongly upturned and inferiorly serrate; epimeral plates 1 and 2 also have medial tooth posteriorly; sideplates of Pr. 3–5 produced posterodistally in strong tooth | P. rickettsi Shoemaker, 1931 | |
| Epimeral plate 3 not so noticeably upturned and serrate; epimeral plates 1 and 2 with medial tooth; sideplates of Pr. 3–5 not produced posteriorly into strong tooth | P. minuta (Sars), 1882 |
If Chevreux's statements about the peraeopods of his P. joubini are accurate, and I see no reason to doubt them, then it would seem reasonable to grant Nicholls' var. bidentata specific rank. The other differences which Nicholls mentions support this view, particularly those in the pleon segments.
Panoploea spinosa G. M. Thomson (Figs. 1–35).