Meridiecyclops, gen. nov., a new cyclopid genus (Crustacea : Copepoda : Cyclopidae) from southern Australia

Abstract

Some 60 years after the initial description by Sars (1908) of Metacyclops arnaudi found in a swamp in Victoria, Kiefer (1967) reported this species again from the same region, and described a subspecies M. arnaudi platypus from a locality in South Australia. Re-examination of the specimens studied by Kiefer revealed several important differences between them and Sars’ original description. Moreover certain unique features of both taxa, as displayed in the morphology of the fourth leg, the female genital field and, not least, in the remarkable dimorphism of the maxilla in the male, justify the erection of a separate genus, Meridiecyclops, gen. nov. Two species, M. baylyi, sp. nov. (for Kiefer’s Metacyclops arnaudi s. str.) and M. platypus, new rank (for Kiefer’s M. arnaudi platypus), are assigned to the genus, the former being designated as type species.