Furcarcturus polarsterni gen. nov., sp nov., a large deep-sea arcturid isopod from the Drake Passage, with a preliminary molecular characterization

A new arcturid species of unusual size (>6 cm) is described from a locality in the Drake Passage at 3720 m depth. Due to the unique combination of cha racters found in these isopods, the new genus Furcarcturus is proposed. Seq uences of the 16S rRNA gene obtained from eight species indicate that the n ew species does not belong to groups of species currently placed in the gen era Antarcturus and Chaetarcturus. More sequences are needed to corroborate arcturid phlylogeny. does not belong to species groups of the genera Antar cturus Zur Strassen, 1902 and Chaetarcturus Brandt, 1990.