Thalestrella arenicola ( Noodt, 1964 ) Huys, Rony & Mu, Fanghong, 2021

Huys, Rony & Mu, Fanghong, 2021, Johnwellsia, a new intertidal genus of Parastenheliidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) from the Taiwan Strait, China, including a review of the family and key to genera, Zootaxa 5051 (1), pp. 236-318 : 285

Thalestrella arenicola ( Noodt, 1964) comb. nov.

Karllangia arenicola Noodt, 1964

Original description. Noodt (1964): 143–146; Plate 10 (Figs 97–111).

Type locality. Egypt, Red Sea coast near Hurghada ; 2–4 m depth, coralline sand.

Notes. As suggested by Gee (2006: 2645) the sexual dimorphism of the antenna was probably overlooked by Noodt (1964) due to the small size of the species.Other discrepancies which are probably attributable to observational errors include (a) the absence of well developed, deeply incised hyaline frills on the body somites (although plain frills have also been observed in T. obscura comb. nov.); (b) the indistinctly 3-segmented antennary exopod in the female, displaying an incomplete suture dividing the distal segment, (c) the absence of the minute seta on P1 enp-2, (d) the presence of only one seta on P5 endopodal lobe ♂ (the minute outer seta was probably overlooked), and (e) the absence of a conspicuous dorsal spinular row on the caudal ramus. The inner seta of P1 enp-1 is exceptionally long compared to other congeners. Thalestrella arenicola comb. nov. shares the presence of only two segments distal to the geniculation in the male antennule with T. bengalensis comb. nov. and T. reducta comb. nov., the absence of the inner seta on P1 exp-2 with T. obscura comb. nov. and T. reducta comb. nov., and the presence of only two inner setae on P3 exp-3 with T. ornatissima and T. reducta comb. nov.

Thalestrella arenicola has not been recorded again since its original description ( Noodt 1964). Rao (1980) listed “ Karllangia arenicala [sic] Noodt?” from an unspecified locality in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; in all likelihood this record refers to T. bengalensis . Colangelo et al. (2001) reported on a species, “ Karllangia cfr. arenicola ”, collected from a shallow hydrothermal seepage site off the Island of Panarea (Aeolian Islands) in the Tyrrhenian Sea.