Two new species of the genus Ammothea are
described from Elephant Island and the South Shetlands
Islands, Antarctica. The material was captured during the
Polarstern cruise XXIII/8 to the Antarctic Peninsula area.
The main features of Ammothea pseudospinosa n. sp. are a
proboscis distinctly trilobulated distally with a constriction
at 2/3 of its length and dimorphism between the propodi of
the anterior (first and second) and posterior (third and
fourth) legs, and a trunk: proboscis length ratio of about
1.5. The main features of Ammothea childi n. sp. are a
cylindrical proboscis, longer than trunk length, and adults
with functional chelifores. These species are compared
with their closest congeners from the Southern Ocean:
A. pseudospinosa n. sp. with Ammothea spinosa and
Ammothea allopodes;A. childi n. sp. withAmmothea gigantea,
Ammothea bicorniculata and Ammothea hesperidensis
