A new species of Rhyncholagena Lang, 1944 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Miraciidae) from Palau

By

Yeom, Jisu
Lee, Wonchoel 1966-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1180

Pages

181--199

Subjects

18S rRNA , benthic copepod , Crustacea , meiofauna , mtCOI , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1180.109288

 

Abstract

A new species of Miraciidae Dana, 1846, Rhyncholagena cuspissp. nov., was described from Palau. Morphological descriptions and gene fragment sequence barcoding were performed on the 11th species of Rhyncholagena Lang, 1944 collected from sandy sediment samples in the subtidal zone of the Philippine Sea, Palau. Morphological characteristics were compared and an updated identification key was provided. A new species, Rhyncholagena cuspissp. nov., was found to be morphologically similar to Rhyncholagena littoralis Por, 1967 and R. bermudensis Malt, 1990. This is the first record of the genus Rhyncholagena in Palau. The study provides basic data for future studies and highlights the need for continued exploration of marine biodiversity in Palau and other regions.