Harpacticoida

The genus Colombocaris is proposed for a new species discovered on submerged mosses of a high Andean lake in Colombia. The diagnostic characters of the genus mainly concern the morphology of legs, particularly the endopod of leg 2, leg 3, the endopodite of leg 4 and the peculiar leg 5, the cuticular windows of body segments and the morphology of the furca. The new genus Noodtcaris is proposed for three species of the Parastenocaris columbiensis-group, viz., P. columbiensis, P. kubitzkii and P. roettgeri, described from the Colombian Llanos Orientales, and for P. tapajosensis from the Brazilian Amazonas. This genus is well defined by the ornamentation of the caudal rami and the morphology of legs 2 to 5. The absence of endopod on female leg 3 is a diagnostic character at least for the Colombian species. A key for the identification of the species composing the new genera is provided.

Mesophotic coral reefs are largely unexplored nearshore habitats. We present illustrations of both sexes of a new copepod species of the family Longipediidae Sars, 1903 collected via scuba-diving with tri-mix rebreathers from mesophotic coral reefs in Puerto Rico as an example of the rich fauna encountered in these habitats. The new species, Longipedia gonzalezi, displays a conservative morphology that characterizes the genus by having a robust body, first pedigers fused to the cephalosome, P4 exp-2 with only 1 medial seta, number of enp-1 medial setae of P1–P4 = 1:1:1:1, number of enp-2 medial setae of P1–P4 = 1:1:2:1, and caudal rami of cylindrical shape about twice as long as wide. The new species belongs to the helgolandica species-group and is morphologically similar to L. helgolandica and L. americana. Species distinction within the genus Longipedia based on morphological characters is challenging because of the conservative morphology of the genus, so we provide the first DNA sequences (28S gene) for future comparisons within the genus. The phylogenetic position of the Polyarthra (a taxon consisting of the families Longipediidae and Canuellidae, whose affinities with Harpacticoida have been questioned) is discussed within Copepoda and other Crustacea. The 28S DNA analysis confirms that Polyarthra are very closely related and are included in the strongly supported Copepoda clade. Polyarthra were not found within the Harpacticoida, which, therefore, remained not as a monophyletic, but as a paraphyletic taxon. Therefore, our 28S data indicate that the claim by Dahms and previous authors for the exclusion of Polyarthra from the Harpacticoida may be valid, and warrants further investigation.

Eirinicaris antonioi gen. et sp. n. (Parastenocaridinae) is described from the Brazilian rocky savannas, an ecosystem under heavy anthropogenic pressure. The subfamily is distributed worldwide, with representatives in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. This is the first time a non-Remaneicaris Parastenocaridinae is described from a Neotropical region indicating that Parastenocaridinae species were already present in a vast geographical area, before the split of the Gondwana. The new taxon is included within the subfamily Parastenocaridinae based on the following characters: 1) segments 5, 6, and 7 of the male antennules forming a functional unit for clasping the female; 2) segment 7 with small process at the inner margin, forming an incipient " pocket-knife " structure with segment 6; 3) last segment pointing medially when closed; 4) the endopod of female leg 3 one-segmented and spiniform, without distal seta; 5) the apophysis and terminal seta of the exopod of male leg 3 are fused; 6) the genital field is rectangular and much broader than the height in the female; 7) the group of three lateral setae I, II, and III of the furca and the dorsal seta are situated at the same level in the female; and 8) the basis of leg 1 has an inner seta. The new taxon can be distinguished from all other Parastenocaridinae genera by the unique sexually dimorphic telson and furca. In the male, the dorsal seta is inserted at the midlength of the furca and setae I, II, and III are displaced anteroventrally. A phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Parastenocaridinae is given based on the description of the type species of each genus and available descriptions of all Parastenocaridinae species. Eirinicaris gen. n. is the sister taxon of a clade formed by Kinnecaris and Monodicaris, sharing with them the long male and female leg 5 with a long spiniform process, and with Kinnecaris, a distal pore on the spiniform process.