Lubbockia squillimana Claus, 1863

Juan M. Fuentes-Reinés & Eduardo Suárez-Morales, 2017, New records of poecilostomatoid copepods (Crustacea) from a coastal system in the Colombian Caribbean with notes on morphology, Check List 13 (5), pp. 513-523 : 517-519

Lubbockia squillimana Claus, 1863

Figures 9–17

Synonymy ( Heron and Bradford 1995): Lubbockia minuta Marukawua 1927 ; Lubbockia marukawuai Mori, 1937 .

Material examined. One female, dissected ( UARC 294- UARC 301M).

Remarks. Body slender, elongate ( Fig. 9 ). Body length = 1325 µm. The Colombian specimens bear the diagnostic features of L. squillimana as reported by Boxshall (1977) and Boxshall and Halsey (2004) and can be easily recognized by: 1) antennule 5-segmented ( Fig. 10 ), 2) maxilliped with large denticles on the basis ( Figs 11, 12 ), 3) P1-2EXP3 with 2 outer spines ( Figs 13, 14 ), 4) P5 elongate, reaching beyond posterior margin of genital double-somite ( Figs 15, 16 ), 5) genital double-somite much longer than succeeding postgenital somite ( Fig. 16 ), 6) P6 represented by single setal element ( Fig. 17 ).

Lubbockiids are oceanic copepods, occurring in open waters and often at great depths ( Heron and Damkaer, 1978). Lubbockia squillimana is epipelagic ( Heron and Bradford-Grieve 1995) but has been also found at mesobathypelagic depths ( Berdugo and Kimor 1968). In the Caribbean Sea, L. squillimana can be confused with L. aculeata Giesbrecht, 1891 ; they can be separated by: 1) the structure of the female P5 which reaches the posterior border of the genital double-somite in L. squillimana and is shorter in L. aculeata , 2) L. squillimana female maxilliped lacks inner spinous processes on the basis whereas such processes are present in L. aculeata .

Variability. The right maxilliped of our specimen bears 2 large denticles instead of 4 ( Fig. 12 ). Heron and Damkaer (1969) reported a similar variation of the maxilliped in L. wilsonae .

Distribution. Lubbockia squillimana has a tropical distribution, but it is also found outside tropical waters ( Heron and Damkaer 1978). In Colombia this species has been reported in Providence and Santa Catalina islands ( Martínez-Barragán et al. 2009). This is the first record of this species in the Magdalena department, northern Colombia.

Family Kelleriidae Humes & Boxshall, 1996

Genus Kelleria Gurney, 1927

Figures

Figures 9 – 12. Lubbockia squillimana, female from Rodadero Bay, Colombia. 9. Habitus, dorsal view. 10. Antennule. 11. Left maxilliped. 12. Right maxilliped with reduced number (2) of spiniform processes.

Figures 13 – 17. Lubbockia squillimana, female from Rodadero Bay, Colombia. 13. P 1. Armature details shown, spines (Roman numerals), setae (Arabic numerals), arrow indicates position of damaged apical seta. 14. P 2 EXP. 15. P 5. 16. Urosome, ventral view. 17. Detail of genital double-somite, ventral view, showing P 6.