Onychostenhelia Itô, 1979

Huys, Rony & Mu, Fang-Hong, 2008, Description of a new species of Onychostenhelia Itô (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Miraciidae) from the Bohai Sea, China, Zootaxa 1706, pp. 51-68 : 52-53

Genus Onychostenhelia Itô, 1979

Amended diagnosis. Stenheliinae. Anal operculum absent. Caudal rami about 3 times as long as anal somite; seta V swollen in proximal part. Rostrum bell-shaped, with bifid or rounded tip. Antennule Ψ 7-segmented with aesthetasc on segments 4 and 7; haplocer in ɗ; segments 1–2 with spinous process on posterior margin in both sexes. Antenna with allobasis; exopod 3-segmented with setation formula [1,1,(1 + 3 apical)]. Mandible with elongate basis bearing 3 setae; exopod with 6 setae; endopod with 2 lateral setae, and 6 setae apically (none of which modified into a lash, two of them fused). Maxillule without modified elements on arthrite; endopod and exopod confluent at base. Maxilliped subchelate; syncoxa with 3 setae; basis with 2 setae; endopod slender, bearing claw and 2 accessory setae.

P1 with slender, elongate rami; not sexually dimorphic; exopod 3-segmented, endopod 2-segmented; exp- 2 with inner seta, exp-3 with 4 setae, outer elements long and setiform; enp-1 distinctly longer than enp-2; enp-2 with 3 slender setae apically. P2–P4 with 3-segmented exopod and 2-segmented endopods; all segments strongly chitinized; P2 exopod abbreviated, about as long as endopod, P3–P4 exopods distinctly longer than endopods. P2 endopod not sexually dimorphic. Inner element of Ψ P3–P4 enp-1 spiniform, absent in ɗ. P4 exopod sexually dimorphic; longer in ɗ due to elongation of exp-2; exp-2 ɗ with modified outer spine; exp-3 with 3 well developed inner setae in both sexes, in ɗ with cup-shaped chitinous projection along outer margin. P1-P4 armature formula:

Fifth pair of female legs with free exopods and medially fused baseoendopods; exopod drawn out into a conspicuous terminal spinous process (derived from incorporated spine), with 3 inner and 2 outer setae; baseoendopod with 5 elements. Male P5 with free exopod modified into a claw-like outwardly directed segment with 2 outer setae; baseoendopod fused medially, endopodal lobe vestigial, with inner spine and outer seta. Male P6 with 3 setae, innermost not modified.

Egg-sacs elongate and uniseriate.

Note that Itô (1979) stated in the original diagnosis that the proximal aesthetasc in the female antennule arises from the fifth segment. This must be an inadvertent slip of the pen.

Type species. Onychostenhelia falcifera Itô, 1979 (by monotypy) Other species. O. bispinosa sp. nov.