HARPACTICOIDA G. O. Sars, 1903

Reddy, Yenumula Ranga, Totakura, Venkateswara Rao & Shaik, Shabuddin, 2016, A new genus and two new species of Parastenocarididae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from southeastern India, Journal of Natural History 50, pp. 1315-1356 : 1317-1319

Order HARPACTICOIDA G. O. Sars, 1903

Family PARASTENOCARIDIDAE Chappuis, 1940 Subfamily PARASTENOCARIDINAE Chappuis, 1940 Indocaris gen. nov.

Generic diagnosis

Small-sized Parastenocaridinae (260–350 μm); body cylindrical habitus, integument weakly sclerotised, somites ornamented with large sensilla; cephalothorax with one dorsal integumental window, and urosomites 2 – or 3–5 in males, and 2–4 in females with one dorsal window each. Podoplean boundary between prosome and urosome inconspicuous. Genital complex in female rectangular, occupying anterior ventral half of genital double-somite; single genital aperture and median copulatory pore covered by fused vestigial sixth legs. Caudal rami somewhat cylindrical, armed with seven setae (three lateral, one dorsal, two apical and two subapical), with lateral group of setae and dorsal seta occurring at the same level, all located in distal third of ramus. Male antennule eight-segmented, haplocer and ‘coiled type’; distal two segments in line with each other; geniculation between segments 3 and 4, and 6 and 7; segment 5 barely dilated, but with massive aesthetasc overreaching ultimate segment; female antennule seven-segmented. Maxilla with one or two setae on proximal endite. Leg 1 basis with inner armature element in males; exopod shorter than endopod and sharply curved inwards; first endopodal segment with elongate spinules on both margins. Leg 2 in both sexes with one-segmented and short endopod, bearing one apical seta. Female leg 3 endopod of moderate length, or reduced, with or without fused apical seta. Male leg 3 composed of praecoxa, coxa, basis and exopod; intercoxal sclerite moderate in size; both exopodal segments fused to each other almost completely, slender, elongate and bent inwards; ancestral proximal segment ornamented with longitudinal row of spinules along outer distal margin; apophysis short, conical with generally fused apical seta; thumb spiniform, longer than apophysis, and acutely pointed; endopod represented by either slender segment tipped with a small seta or by a simple seta itself. Male leg 4 coxa without spinules on inner margin; basis with five or six prominent, imbricate, enlarged (petaloid) spinules at the insertion of endopod, the spinules increasing in size from internal to external; endopod somewhat dilated or bulbous proximally and drawn out distally into incurved spiniform or horn-like structure, about as long as first exopodal segment, and ornamented with three or four small spinules at subproximal outer margin. Female leg 4 endopod one-segmented, gradually tapering to a point, with serrulate disto-lateral margins. Leg 5 small, trapezoidal, without intercoxal sclerite, armed with three or four setae and only slightly extending beyond its own somite; sexually dimorphic with inner margin being spinulose in male but smooth in female, and the spiniform process at the inner distal corner somewhat shorter in male. Anal somite with or without ventral spinules.

Type species

Indocaris imbricata sp. nov.

Other species

Indocaris inopinata sp. nov.

Indocaris tirupatiensis ( Ranga Reddy, 2011a) comb. nov.

Etymology

The prefix of the generic name, ‘Indo’, alludes to India, where the new genus is found, and the suffix ‘karis’ is most common in the family Parastenocarididae ; gender feminine.