Tubipedia, Kim & Boxshall, 2020

Kim, Il-Hoi & Boxshall, Geoff A., 2020, Untold diversity: the astonishing species richness of the Notodelphyidae (Copepoda: Cyclopoida), a family of symbiotic copepods associated with ascidians (Tunicata), Megataxa 4 (1), pp. 1-6 : 580

Tubipedia gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Body caterpillar-like, dorsoventrally depressed with defined cephalosome, metasome, and free urosome. Cephalosome small. Metasomeunsegmented, incorporatingfifth pedigerous somite. Free urosome 5- segmented, comprising genital somite and 4-segmented abdomen. Caudal ramus with 5 setae. Rostrum present. Antennule 5-segmented with distinct setae. Antenna 4- segmented, consistingof coxa, basis, and 2-segmented endopod; firstendopodal segment with 1 seta; terminal claw small. Mandible consisting of coxa and palp; medial margin of coxalgnathobase bearing 4 teeth only; palp comprising unarmed basis, exopod bearing 4 setae, and endopod bearing 4 setaeon first segment and 6 setae on second. Maxillule bilobed, armedwith 5 setaeon inner lobe (precoxal arthrite) and 6 setae on outer lobe (palp formed by fusion of basis, exopod and endopod). Maxilla short and broad, indistinctly 5-segmented, armed with 3, 2, 1, 1, and 2 setae on first to fifth segments, respectively. Maxilliped lobate, bearing 8 setae apically. Legs 1–4 biramous, each with unsegmented protopod; endopods rudimentary, markedly smaller than exopods, and tipped with 1 or 2 setae. Leg 1 with 2-segmented rami. Legs 2–4 each with 3-segmented exopod and lobate endopod; exopods tipped with tube-like structure. Leg 5 rudimentary, represented by small setae. Leg 6 absent.

Type and only species. Tubipedia anisocladia gen. et sp. nov. by original designation.

Etymology. The generic name is from the Latin tub (=a tube) and ped (=a foot), referring to the presence of a small tube on the exopods of legs 2–4. Gender feminine.

Remarks. The new genus shares a similar body form with Prophioseides Chatton & Brément, 1911 and Campodelphys gen. nov. (see below), but is readily distinguishable by the possession of a 4-segmented antenna bearing a seta on the first endopodal segment, and by the presence of 4 setae on the first endopodal segment of the mandibular palp. The presence of the tubelike structure on the apex of the exopod of legs 2–4 is an autapomorphy which serves to separate Tubipedia gen. nov. from all other genera in the Notodelphyidae .