(Milne-Edwards, 1830)
Description:
Body slender and smooth. Coxal plate 1 produced acutely forwards, plate 2 longer than plates 1 and 3 and in male with the anterior angle produced, plates 1 and 2 with the posterodistal margin serrate. Epimeral plate 3 posterodistal angle acute, distal margin serrate. Head with rounded lateral lobes; eyes small oval to kidney-shaped. Antenna 1 about two-thirds of the body length, slender, peduncle article 1 quite robust and a little shorter than article 2, article 3 small, flagellum longer than the peduncle; accessory flagellum 3 to 7-articulate. Antenna 2 much shorter than antenna 1 and very slender. Gnathopod 1 carpus and propodus about equal in length, densely setose, propodus oval, palm poorly delimited. Female gnathopod 2 a little larger and more robust than gnathopod 1, merus acute distally, propodus much longer than the carpus, both densely setose, propodus elongate oval, palm almost longitudinal, weakly crenulate, poorly delimited. Male gnathopod 2 large and robust, merus prolonged distally, carpus short and triangular, propodus robust, elongate, palm longitudinal and only moderately setose, margin irregularly crenulate with a small truncated distal lobe, dactylus very large and robust; in large males propodus may be extremely narrow, sparsely setose, with the dactylus exaggerated, sinuous, and extending far beyond the base of the propodus. Pereiopods 5 to 7 robust, basis oval, posterior margin serrate. Uropod 1 peduncle with a large proximal lower-marginal spine and a strong distal spine; uropods 1 and 2 rami about equal, spinose; uropod 3 peduncle with a prominent lobe on the inner margin, rami elongate, lanceolate, margins with only a few very small spines. Telson deeply cleft, lobes divergent, each with an acute apex and a small subapical spinule and tooth.
Size:
Length usually about 10 to 15 mm, occasionally up to about 35 mm.
Colour:
Whitish, with pale red patches.
Habitat:
Depth range from 0 to 150 metres, occasionally deeper.
Distribution:
North-East Atlantic, from southern Norway to the coast of North Africa; North Sea.