Didemnomolgus, Kim & Boxshall, 2021

Kim, Il-Hoi & Boxshall, Geoff A., 2021, Copepods associated with Ascidian hosts (Tunicata): Intramolgidae and Lichomolgidae, with descriptions of four new genera and 13 new species, Zootaxa 5013 (1), pp. 1-75 : 52-53

Didemnomolgus gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Lichomolgidae . Morphological features as in iẚchomolgus, except as follows: Terminal segment of antenna armed with 1 claw and 6 setae. Distal lash of maxilla bearing 1 large spine proximally. Leg 4 with 3-segmented exopod and 2 segmented endopod; third exopodal segment armed with 4 spines and 5 setae (formula III, I, 5); endopod armed with inner seta on proximal segment and 1 spine and 1 seta distally on distal segment (formula 0-1; 0, I+1, 0).

Type species. aẚdemnomolgus crenulatus gen. et sp. nov. by original designation.

Etymology. The name of the new genus is derived from the generic name of the host ascidian plus – molgus, the suffix of many lichomolgid genera. Gender masculine.

Remarks. In the Lichomolgidae many genera are differentiated from one another by the structure and armature of the endopod of leg 4. The endopod of leg 4 of aẚdemnomolgus crenulatus gen. et sp. nov. is 2-segmented and armed with 1 inner seta on the first segment and 1 spine plus 1 seta distally on the second segment (formula being 0-1; 0, I+1, 0). This armature condition is unique within the Lichomolgidae . The armature of 4 spines and 5 setae (formula III, I, 5) on the third exopodal segment of leg 4 is an additional diagnostic feature of the new genus, since this feature is very unusual in the Lichomolgidae , shared only with maclabẚus and eeteranthessẚus.