Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 June 2012
A new bathyal leucothoid amphipod, Leucothoe cathalaa sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on specimens collected at the Le Danois Bank (‘El Cachucho’ Marine Protected Area), southern Bay of Biscay. This species can be distinguished from the other species of the genus Leucothoe by the hardly visible eyes (translucent ocelli, in preserved specimens); antenna 1 with minute accessory flagellum; coxae 1–3 with 2 serrations on posterodistal margin; epimeron 3 posterodistal corner produced, bifid, with one seta between blunt lobes and telson apex pointed without accessory teeth. In live specimens, the eyes are easily visible, each represented as a rounded whitish-pigmented spot. The new species has been found living on fine sandy soft-bottoms between 486 and 574 m depth at the top of the bank. An identification key to the deep Atlantic European species of Leucothoe is provided, as well as ecological and biological comments.