Unimeria, Kim & Boxshall, 2020

Kim, Il-Hoi & Boxshall, Geoff A., 2020, Untold diversity: the astonishing species richness of the Notodelphyidae (Copepoda: Cyclopoida), a family of symbiotic copepods associated with ascidians (Tunicata), Megataxa 4 (1), pp. 1-6 : 570

Unimeria gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Body inflated. Prosome unsegmented, gradually broadening posteriorly. Urosome small, wider than long, unsegmented, and directed perpendicular to prosomal axis. Caudal ramus small, notarticulated from abdomen, armedwith 6 setae. Rostrum present.Antennule incompletely 2-segmented. Antenna 3-segmented, consisting of short coxa, basis and unsegmentedendopod with small terminal claw. Labrum simple. Mandible with pectinate medial margin on coxal gnathobase; palp biramous; exopod incompletely articulated from basis, bearing 4 setae; first endopodal segment fused with basis, with 2 setae onmedial margin; secondendopodal segment incompletely articulated from first, armed with 4 setae. Maxillule as lobe bearing 10 setae. Maxilla incompletely 3-segmentedwith 4, 1, and 2 setaeonfirst to third segments, respectively. Maxilliped absent. Legs 1–4 biramous, unsegmented with elongate, digitiform rami; setae small and naked. Leg 5 absent.

Type and only species. Unimeria longipedata gen. et sp. nov. by original designation.

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Greek uni (=one) and mer (=a part) and refers to the unsegmented body of the type species. Gender feminine.

Remarks. The type species could not be assigned to any known notodelphyid genera because it exhibits a unique combination of highly derived and plesiomorphic character states. The derived states include: the urosome is small and unsegmented, the medial margin of mandibularcoxais pectinate, themaxillule isvery reduced (represented by a lobe bearing setae), the maxilliped is absent, the swimming legs are unsegmented but retain elongate rami, and leg 5 is absent. However, the presence of 6 caudal setae and the setation of the mandibular palp are both relatively plesiomorphic features. Unimeria gen. nov. is established to accommodate U. longipedata gen. etsp. nov.