Resolving taxonomic and nomenclatural problems in the genus Caligus O. F. Müller, 1785 (Copepoda: Caligidae)
Author
Boxshall, Geoffrey A.
Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW 7 5 BD, UK
Author
Bernot, James P.
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, 20560, USA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-10-30
5360
4
545
567
https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/download/zootaxa.5360.4.5/52133
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5360.4.5
1175-5326
10084656
EA1BE6F9-88E2-4357-895E-8ED415206592
Caligus glacialis
Gadd, 1910
and
Caligus curtus
Müller, 1785
Despite its early twentieth century publication date, the original description of
C. glacialis
by
Gadd (1910)
provides detailed information on some important morphological features. Comparison of Gadd’s description of
C. glacialis
with the redescription of the
type
species
C. curtus
by
Parker
et al.
(1968)
reveals numerous detailed similarities. The general habitus of female
C. glacialis
is very similar to that of
C. curtus
and similarities between their appendages include: the presence of a blunt posterior process on the proximal segment of the antenna; a recurved postantennal process; a slender maxilliped lacking any myxal process; a sternal furca with short divergent tines; leg 2 with an unusually large outer spine of the first exopodal segment combined with an inconspicuous outer spine on segment 2, and neither lies obliquely across the surface of the ramus; leg 3 carries a slightly curved outer spine on the first exopodal segment that does not extend as far as the articulation between exopodal segments 2 and 3; and leg 4 is 3- segmented and bears 3 distal margin spines, the innermost of which is more than twice as long as the other 2 spines and longer than the segment. The male, as described by
Gadd (1910)
, also shares numerous detailed features with
C. curtus
, including the presence of 2 well developed digitiform processes on the myxal surface of the maxilliped opposing the tip of the subchela, one proximal to and one distal to the tip of the subchela when adducted.
The female of
C. curtus
attains lengths up to
10.1 mm
and the male, unusually for a
Caligus
species
, is longer than the female, up to
12.3 mm
according to
Kabata (1979)
. The body lengths given by
Gadd (1910)
for female and male
C. glacialis
were
8.9 mm
and
9.9 mm
, respectively, and conform to this unusual pattern of gender-based size dimorphism. On the basis of all these similarities, and in the absence of significant differences, we propose to recognise
Caligus glacialis
Gadd, 1910
as a junior subjective synonym of
Caligus curtus
Müller, 1785
. This species is widespread at high latitudes in the Arctic-Boreal Atlantic.