A new genus, Peniculoides (Copepoda, Calanoida), from deep waters of the North Atlantic with notes on the definition of Clausocalanidae

Abstract

A new calanoid copepodPeniculoides secundusgen. et sp. nov. is described from a female specimen collected in the northern Atlantic from abyssal waters close to the sea bed during the German expedition DIVA 3 in 2009.Peniculoidesgen. nov. is a representative of the superfamily Clausocalanoidea with a heavily sclerotized mandibular gnathobase and maxillular praecoxal arthrite, the maxillular coxal epipodite lacking setae and the maxilla with coxal to basal endites flat and round distally, their surfaces densely covered by short, brush-like spinules. The new genus,Peniculoidesis provisionally placed in the Clausocalanidae. A combination of characters is proposed to distinguish between the families Clausocalanidae and Aetideidae. The generic composition of Clausocalanidae is revised.