Nebalia gerkenae, a new species of leptostracan (Crustacea : Malacostraca : Phyllocarida) from the Bennett Slough region of Monterey Bay, California

A new species of leptostracan crustacean, Nebalia gerkenae, is described from Bennett Slough, Monterey County, California. The species is similar to N. hessleri from deeper waters off La Jolla, California. It differs from N. hessleri in the shape and color of the pigmented region of the eyes, armature of the antennule and antenna, the degree that the carapace covers the abdominal somites, dentition of the protopod of the fourth pleopod, and details of the pleonite border spination. Variation in this spination is discussed, and guidelines are suggested for future descriptions of leptostracan species.