Bull. nat. Hist. Mus. Lend. (Zool.) 66( 1 ): 1^8 Issued 29 June 2000 



Generic concepts in the Clytemnestridae 

 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida), revision and 

 revival 



RONY HUYS AND SOPHIE CONROY-DALTON 



Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 2 



Materials and Methods 2 



Taxonomic History 2 



Clytemnestra Dana, 1847 2 



Goniopsyllus Brady, 1883 3 



Sapphir Car, 1890 3 



Goniopelte Claus, 1891a 3 



Priority of the family name 4 



Systematics 4 



Family Clytemnestridae A. Scott, 1909 4 



Genus Clytemnestra Dana, 1847 5 



Clytemnestra scutellata Dana, 1847 5 



Clytemnestra gracilis (Claus, 1891a) comb, nov 15 



Clytemnestra farrani sp. nov 20 



Clytemnestra longipes sp. nov 24 



Clytemnestra asetosa sp. nov 24 



Clytemnestra hendorffi var. quinquesetosa Poppe, 1891 29 



Other records 29 



Genus Goniopsyllus Brady, 1883 29 



Goniopsyllus clausi sp. nov 29 



Goniopsyllus rostratus Brady, 1883 40 



Goniopsyllus brasiliensis sp. nov 42 



Goniopsyllus tenuis (Lubbock, 1860) comb, nov 44 



Sapphir rostratus Car, 1890 44 



Other records 44 



Discussion 44 



Generic concepts and species discrimination 44 



Relationships 45 



'Taxonomic Impediment' and marine plankton 45 



Acknowledgements 46 



References 46 



SYNOPSIS. The family Clytemnestridae is one of the very few holoplanktonic harpacticoid lineages, typically occurring in the 

 epipelagic zone of all oceans. Its monogeneric status and the cosmopolitan distribution of the only two species, Clytemnestra 

 scutellata Dana, 1847 and C. rostrata (Brady, 1883), have been universally accepted since 1891. Re-examination of the major 

 expedition collections (Challenger 1873-76, Cambridge Suez Canal Expedition 1924, Great Barrier Reef Expedition 1928-29, 

 Discovery) in the Natural History Museum proved both perceptions to be false. The generic concepts introduced by Claus ( 1 891£>) 

 but rejected by subsequent authors are revived, resulting in the recognition of two valid genera Clytemnestra Dana, 1847 (syn. 

 Goniopelte Claus, 1891a) and Goniopsyllus Brady, 1883 (syn. Sapphir Car, 1890). Genera are separated on the basis of 

 antennulary segmentation, caudal ramus sexual dimorphism and differences in the armature of the antenna, maxillule, maxilla, 

 PI and P2. Fundamental discrepancies are found in the female genital field and the male gonopores. 



Species discrimination prior to this revision was exclusively based on generic characters. Detailed examination of NHM 

 material has quadrupled the number of species in the family. Redescriptions are provided for both C. scutellata and G. rostratus, 

 and descriptions are given for five new species previously confounded with these type species: C. farrani sp. nov., C. longipes 

 sp. nov., C. asetosa sp. nov., G. clausi sp. nov. and G. brasiliensis sp. nov. 



Goniopelte gracilis Claus, 1 89 1 a is redescribed and reinstated as a valid species in Clytemnestra. It is believed to represent the 

 Atlantic-Mediterranean sister-species of C. scutellata which presumably assumes only a restricted eastern Indo-Pacific 

 distribution. Neotypes are designated for C. scutellata and C. gracilis. Mediterranean and other European records of G. rostratus 

 in reality refer to G. clausi sp. nov. 



© The Natural History Museum, 2000 



