A comparison of some environmental adaptations of the littoral collembolans Anuridella marina (Willem) and Anurida maritima (Guérin)

Cuticle structures of A. marina and A. martima are discussed, the differences are correlated with a greater tolerance of desiccation in A. maritima. The cuticle ornamentation of A. maritima can trap a layer of water-saturated air thus slowing down water loss and allowing it to forage in the drier upper littoral, while A. marina, without a layer of water saturated air, is confined to more humid habitats in the lower littoral. Both species have a compressible macroplastron supported by major tubercles, as well as a much thinner microplastron supported by minor tubercles which is more resistant to wetting by pressure and surfactants. The plastrons are shown to be preadaptations to the littoral zone.     

A review of Paranannopidae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) with claviform aesthetascs on oral appendages

Leptotachidia iberica Becker is completely redescribed from the type material and is shown to carry claviform aesthetascs on the mouthparts. This is regarded as a character of high phylogenetic significance and, together with the loss of the mandibular exopod and the form of sexual dimorphism of the distal segment of the male P2 endopod, provides overwhelming evidence for a common ancestry for the genera Leptotachidia, Micropsammis Mielke and Paradanielssenia Soyer. Additional observations are made of the morphology of M. noodti Mielke, M. secunda Mielke and P. biclavata Gee. From a discussion of the probable relationships within this group of genera it is concluded that M. secunda is the most likely sister group of Leptotachidia and therefore must be removed to a new genus Telopsammis gen. nov. New diagnoses are given for all the genera.     

Copepoda associated with scleractinian corals on the Great Barrier Reef,northeastern Australia,with a key to the genera of the Lichomolgidae

Nine new species and three new genera, Parandrianellus, Scyphuliger, and James-cookina, are associated with various species of hard corals in the vicinity of Lizard Island, Big Broadhurst Reef, and Bowl Reef on the Great Barrier Reef. These copepods include the lichomolgids Parandrianellus annulatus from Hydnophora rigida, Scyphuliger concavipes from Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora sarmentosa, Scyphuliger manifestus from Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora squarrosa, James-cookina redacta from Echinopora horrida, Panjakus eumeces from Hydnophora rigida, Anchimolgus abbreviatus and Anchimolgus tanaus from Acrhelia horrescens, Anchimolgus exsertus from Echinopora horrida, and Odontomolgus bulbalis from Merulina ampliata. Schedomolgus tenuatus Humes, 1990, recorded from Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora humilis, is transferred to the genus Scyphuliger. Schedomolgus lobophorus (Humes and Ho, 1968) is recorded from Acropora hyacinthus, Acropora humilis, Acropora sarmentosa, and Acropora intermedia; Amarda goniastreae Humes, 1985, from Favia stelligera; and Amardopsis merulinae Humes, 1974, from Merulina ampliata and Leptoria phrygia. The harpacticoid Alteuthellopsis corallina Humes, 1981, is reported from Merulina ampliata and Stylophora pistillata. A list of those copepods previously known to be associated with hard corals in the area and a key to the 81 genera of the Lichomolgidae are provided.     

On four new species of Cletocamptus Shmankevich, 1875 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from inland waters of Argentina

Argentinean specimens of Cletocamptus of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution as well as recently collected material were analyzed and four new species are described. Cletocamptus assimilis sp. nov. and C. tertius sp. nov. seem to be related to C. levis. Cletocamptus pilosus sp. nov. seems to be related to C. stimpsoni. Cletocamptus spinulosus sp. nov. shares the armature formula of the mandibular palp, the armature formula of P1–P4 and the lower insertion level of the innermost seta of the male P5BENP with C. levis, C. assimilis sp. nov. and C. tertius sp. nov. Cletocamptus spinulosus sp. nov. shares the slender seta of the maxillulary arthrite with C. pilosus sp. nov. and C. stimpsoni, and is unique in the strong spinules along the posterior margin of the P2- to P4-bearing somites. Additional comments on some other species and an identification key to the species of Cletocamptus are presented.     

Two new species of Bulbamphiascus Lang (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Diosaccidae) from Scotland and the Isles of Scilly,with additional observations on B. denticulatus (Thompson)

Bulbamphiascus incus sp. nov. is described from muddy sediments, high in organics, from below fish cages in salmon farms in two Scottish Lochs. It is characterized by the ornamentation of the urosome, the presence of an anvil‐shaped semi‐hyaline structure on the basis of the male P2 and by the structure of the exopod of the male P5. A form, here given specific status under the name B. scilloniensis sp. nov., is described from St Martin's Island in the Isles of Scilly and is identical to B. incus except for the ornamentation of the urosome in both sexes which is very similar to that found in B. imus. Newly described features of the male of B. denticulatus confirm that this species can only be distinguished from B. imus by the projection at the outer distal corner of the second segment of the antennule in both sexes.     

The rediscovery of Danielssenia intermedia Wells 1965 (Copepoda,Harpacticoida): a missing link between the ‘danielsseniid’ genera and Paranannopus Lang 1936 (Paranannopidae)

Danielssenia intermedia Wells 1965, originally described from a single male specimen from the Fladen ground in the North Sea, is redescribed on the basis of new material of both sexes from off Cullercoats, also in the North Sea. Although D, intermedia has many similarities to the genera Danielssenia Boeck and Psammis Sars, it must be placed in a new genus Fladenia based on distinctive features of the female antennule, the mandible, maxilliped, first and fifth legs and the sexual dimorphism of both rami of legs 2–4. The characteristics of Fladenia are such that it serves to link the other genera of the danielsseniid complex with Paranannopus Lang. The proposal that all these genera should be placed in the family Paranannopidae Por is reinforced by close similarities in the structure of the female genital field.     

A new genus of Cletodidae (Copepoda; Harpacticoida) from the Bohai Sea,China

Neoacrenhydrosoma zhangi gen. et sp. nov. is described from specimens recovered from muddy sediments in the shallow waters of the Bohai Sea. On the basis of the structure of the mouthparts, P5 of both sexes and the female genital field, it is suggested that the taxon is related to the Acrenhydrosoma-complex within the Cletodidae. It differs from other known genera in the structure of the exopod in P2–P4 which is two-segmented as a result of the failure to separate the proximal two segments of a three-segmented ramus; and the P5 in as much as the mucroniform process incorporates the exopod, as well as the endopodal lobe of the baseoendopod.     

On three new species of Mesochra Boeck, 1865 (Harpacticoida: Canthocamptidae) from Iceland

Three new species of Mesochra Boeck, 1865, were found during two surveys in south‐western Iceland of the feeding ecology of juvenile lumpsucker Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus, 1758, in floating seaweed and the seasonality of harpacticoids in a low intertidal pool. Only two species of the genus, M. lilljeborgi Boeck, 1864 and M. rapiens (Schmeil, 1894), have been found in previous studies in Iceland. The three new species, Mesochra ingolfssoni sp. nov., Mesochra snoppa sp. nov., and Mesochra freyri sp. nov. resemble M. stellfeldi Jakobi, 1954 in the normal (not dwarfed) outer seta of both male and female P5 EXP, but differ in that M. stellfeldi possesses unequal inner baseoendopodal setae on the female P5. The three new species resemble M. pygmaea (Claus, 1863) in the equal inner baseoendopodal setae of the female P5, but differ in the dwarfed outer seta of the male and female P5 EXP present in M. pygmaea, and can be easily separated by shape of the rostrum, female P6, number of pinnate elements on the second antennular segment, general shape of the antenna and shape of the lateral and distal inner spines, among other character states.