Discovery of the female of Cymbasoma rochai Suárez-Morales & Dias, 2001 (Copepoda, Monstrilloida, Monstrillidae), the first Brazilian member of the C. longispinosum species-group

Abstract

Abstract Monstrilloid copepods are protelean parasites of marine benthic invertebrates; their juvenile stages are entirely endoparasitic and emerge from the host as free-living reproductive adult individuals that become part of the plankton. Linking both sexes of a monstrillid species is difficult because individuals of both sexes and members of different species can be collected together as planktonic adults. The Brazilian species Cymbasoma rochai Suárez-Morales & Dias, 2001, known from male specimens only, was recognized to have a strong resemblance to the nominal C. longispinosum, currently recognized as a well-defined species-group (Suárez-Morales, 2011). Hence, it was expectable that the female C. rochai would also resemble the species of the C. longispinosum species-group. Plankton surveys in Brazilian coastal areas yielded records of several female individuals reported as Cymbasoma cf. longispinosum. It is presumed that these are the females of C. rochai. The hitherto unknown female of C. rochai is herein described as such, and in addition revealed and described as a member of the widespread C. longispinosum species-group, now containing 11 species worldwide. This is the first confirmed record of a member of this group from Brazil and also the first known male of this species-group.