Description of Pseudeuchaeta vulgaris n. sp. (Copepoda: Calanoida), a new aetideid species from the deep Pacific Ocean with notes on the biogeography of benthopelagic aetideid calanoids

• Published in: Marine biodiversity Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 289 - 297
• Main Authors: Markhaseva, Elena L., Mohrbeck, Inga, Renz, Jasmin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abyssal zone; Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Aquatic crustaceans; Biodiversity; Biogeography; Biomedical and Life Sciences; CCZ Biodiversity; Congeners; Distribution; Females; Fracture zones; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Freshwater crustaceans; Geographical distribution; Habitus; Life Sciences; New species; Ocean floor; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Pseudeuchaeta; Pseudeuchaeta vulgaris; Segments; Setae; Spine; United Kingdom > UK; Pacific Ocean; Southern Ocean; Calanoids; Aetideidae; Benthopelagic; sp. nov; Taxonomy
• ISSN: 1867-1616; 1867-1624
• DOI: 10.1007/s12526-016-0527-9

A new aetideid species Pseudeuchaeta vulgaris sp. nov. is described from females collected at abyssal depths above the seabed from the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone in the equatorial northeastern Pacific. It belongs to the benthopelagic group of Pseudeuchaeta Sars, 1905 species. The new species is distinguished from all congeners by two setae present on the maxillule proximal basal endite. It is closely related to P. magna Bradford, 1969 and P. major (Wolfenden, 1911), as all three species share a mandible endopod segment 2 with 4–5 setae and the P1 exopod segment 1 lacking a lateral spine. The new species is the fourth benthopelagic representative of the genus found in the abyssal near-bottom environment of the Pacific Ocean and the first benthopelagic Pseudeuchaeta species recorded in the tropical Pacific. An illustrated overview on the distribution of the genus Pseudeuchaeta is given together with notes on the biogeography of benthopelagic aetideid calanoids in the world’s ocean. While some genera show a nearly worldwide distribution, only few species have been reported in more than one ocean so far. This reflects the undersampling of the benthopelagial in the deep ocean.