Two new Cerviniella species (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Aegishtidae) in the Yellow Sea, Korea

Abstract

Two new closely related species belonging to the genus Cerviniella Smirnov, 1946 of the family Aegisthidae Giesbrecht, 1893 were found in the Yellow sea in Korea. The discovery of them is first reported of the genus Cerviniella in Korea. The members of this genus Cerviniella can be divided into two groups, classifying those with P4 endopod as the brodskayae-group and those without it as the mirabilipes-group. These two new species belong to the mirabilipes-group, lacking the endopod of P4. Both species are distinct in their surface ornamentation of the cephalothorax, the tip shape of the rostrum, the antennule segments, the armature formula of P1–P4, and the length ratio of the caudal rami. Cerviniella n. sp. 1 has a short caudal tract and an antenna exopod with two segments, making it unique within the genus Cerviniella. Cerviniella n. sp. 2 differs in having a seven-segmented antennule, lacking the P4 endopod, different armature formulae on the exopod of the antenna and P1-P4, and modification of the apical inner element of P2 enp-2.