Pseudeudorella, Mühlenhardt-Siegel, Ute, 2008

Mühlenhardt-Siegel, Ute, 2008, Phalloleucon abyssalis, a new cumacean genus and species (Crustacea: Peracarida: Leuconidae) from the Peru Basin, Zootaxa 1829, pp. 61-68 : 62-63

Pseudeudorella gen. nov.

Type species: Pseudeudorella redacticruris ( Waling and McCann, 1997) comb. nov.

Diagnosis. Habitus very similar to Eudorella , but pereiopod 5 absent in both sexes, males with strongly developed penial lobes.

Etymology. The new genus is named after the genus Eudorella , which it strongly resembles.

Remarks. The penial lobes between the pereiopods 5 within the order Cumacea vary a lot. There are conical forms in the genus Archaeocuma (family Lampropidae /Archaeocumatidae), or two cylindrical penes with a copulatory organ in the genus Campylaspenis (family Nannastacidae ). The penial lobes in the new genus Pseudeudorella are cylindrical with two relatively long subterminal pappose setae ( Watling and McCann, 1997, Figure 2.21, p. 157).

Day (1978) and Ledoyer (1988) were not convinced that the presence of penial lobes is a sufficient difference to warrant the erection of a new genus or family. Watling and McCann (1997) followed this statement, but they made a restriction and stated that “this view may change as more of these aberrant forms are discovered”. They argued that a single character is not sufficient enough to erect a new genus. However, the second character of the new genus, missing pereiopod 5 in both sexes, makes the new genus unique and easy to distinguish from Eudorella .