Rimipontius mediospinifer Humes, 1996

Ivanenko, Viatcheslav N., Arbizu, Pedro Martínez & Stecher, Jens, 2006, Copepods of the family Dirivultidae (Siphonostomatoida) from deep­sea hydrothermal vent fields on the Mid­Atlantic Ridge at 14 ºN and 5 ºS, Zootaxa 1277, pp. 1-21 : 18

Rimipontius mediospinifer Humes, 1996

Material examined. 2 ΨΨ, Mid­Atlantic Ridge, Logachev­1 hydrothermal field, IRINA II site, sample 35­ GTV, 14°45.19’N, 44°58.75’W, depth 3019 m, washing from Bathymodiolus puteoserpentis , 25 January 2004 ( Fig. 1 A).

Differential diagnosis. Dorsal surface of genital female double­somite with stout median crest ending with spiniform posterior process. Caudal rami with 5 setae, innermost terminal seta absent. Maxilla with inner sinuous seta. Endopod of leg 4 is 2­segmented and armed with 1 terminal spine (formula 0­0; I,0).

Remarks. The species is the type and only species of the genus Rimipontius Humes, 1996 . It was previously recorded from the Logachev field ( Humes & Segonzac 1998), in washings of Rimicaris from Snake Pit site ( Humes 1996) and in plankton over the Broken Spur ( Ivanenko 1998).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Mid­Atlantic Ridge: A, Logachev hydrothermal field at 14 ° N, IRINA II site, musselbed of Bathymodiolus puteoserpentis, at the southwest from the smoker­complex; B, Turtle Pits hydrothermal site at 5 ° S, active chimney “ Tower ” with alvinocaridid shrimps of different size. (Photos courtesy by MARUM © 2005, University of Bremen.)