Quinquelaophonte Wells, Hicks and Coull, 1982

Gómez, S. & Morales-Serna, F. N., 2013, On a small collection of Laophontidae T. Scott (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from Mexico. II. New records of Quinquelaophonte Wells, Hicks and Coull and description of Onychoquinpes permixtionis gen. nov. et sp. nov., Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 47 (5 - 12), pp. 381-408 : 382

Genus Quinquelaophonte Wells, Hicks and Coull, 1982 Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa ( Sewell, 1924)

( Figures 1–6 )

Material examined

Two dissected females (EMUCOP-090301-190, EMUCOP-090301-191) and one dissected CV female (EMUCOP-090301-192). Collected from Urías System , Sinaloa State, north-western Mexico (23 ◦ 11 ′ 06 ′′ N, 106 ◦ 25 ′ 06 ′′ W), 9 March 2001, coll. S. Gómez.

Locality

Urías System (Sinaloa State, north-western Mexico) (23 ◦ 11 ′ 06 ′′ N, 106 ◦ 25 ′ 06 ′′ W).

Remarks

Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa was originally described by Sewell (1924) from Chilka Lake ( India). As pointed out by Lee (2003), the precise number of setae on the antennary exopod is uncertain because Sewell (1924) illustrated this ramus bearing three elements, whereas in the written description he described it as possessing four setae. Since its original description, the species has been reported from distant localities (see Lee 2003: 667 for a complete list). This allegedly cosmopolitan species is known to exhibit a wide range of interpopulation variability in the number of setae on the antennary exopod, P1 EXP2: EXP1 length ratio, number of setae on the P4 EXP3 and ENP2, length: width ratio of the caudal rami and number of setae on the female P5 EXP (see Wells and McKenzie 1973; Lee 2003: 667, table 1), and, as suggested by Lee (2003), Q. quinquespinosa might well be a complex of species. The Mexican material matches best the description and illustrations by Por (1973) of Q. quinquespinosa from the Sirbonian lagoon as evidenced from the descriptions by Lee (2003: 667, table 3) and Por (1973), especially in the relative length of the setae of the female P5 EXP and BENP ( Figure 6C ). However, it has to be noted that only two adult females were found in the Mexican sediment samples, and that some variability was observed in the P4 ENP2 (with three – 111 – or four – 121 – elements; Figure 6A, B ), casting doubts about the “normal” setal armature of this limb and about its relationships with other species within the genus. Also, a slight variation in the relative length of the setae of the P5 baseoendopodal lobe was observed.

Figures

Figure 1. Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell), female. (A) Habitus, dorsal; (B) anal somite and caudal rami, dorsal; (C) antennule. Scale bars: A–C 100 µm.

Figure 2. Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell), female. (A) Habitus, lateral; (B) anal somite and right caudal ramus, lateral; (C) antenna. Scale bars: A, 200 µm; B, C, 100 µm.

Figure 3. Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell), female. (A) Mandible; (B) maxillule; (C) maxilla; (D) maxilliped; (E) aberrant maxilliped with two endopodal claws. Scale bars: A–E, 50 µm.

Figure 4. Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell), female. (A) Urosome, ventral (P5-bearing somite omitted); (B) right caudal ramus, ventral; (C) P3. Scale bars: A, 200 µm; B, 50 µm; C, 100 µm.

Figure 5. Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell), female. (A) P1; (B) P2. Scale bars: A, B, 100 µm.

Figure 6. Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell), female. (A) P4 with four setae on ENP2; (B) P4 with three setae on ENP2; (C) P5. Scale bars: A, B, 100 µm; C, 50 µm.