Hansenium medipacificum

About Hansenium medipacificum

The Bishop Museum's 2002 survey, reported by Coles et al. (2004), lists the small stenetriid isopod Hansenium medipacificum at Nawiliwili reef (station KA2) and Port Allen reef (station KA4) on Kauaʻi. The species was originally described as Stenetrium medipacificum by Miller (1941), who figured a complete female and described a 3.6 mm holotype with an elongate body, long second antennae, crescent-shaped eyes and a shieldlike pleotelson. That original account gives preserved color; it does not establish an exact live color for the Kauaʻi survey animals. Bruce and Buxton (2013) classify the species as species inquirenda and exclude it from the restricted concept of Hansenium, so its current genus-level assignment should not be presented as settled. Their summary states that the male is unknown, although Miller's original text describes one male and illustrates several male appendages; this discrepancy requires specimen review and does not justify depicting a confidently characterized adult male. The two Kauaʻi survey observations are historical occurrence evidence, not a measure of current persistence, abundance, trend or life-cycle ecology.