Styelicola Lützen, 1968

Kim, Il-Hoi & Boxshall, Geoff A., 2021, Copepods (Cyclopoida) associated with ascidian hosts: Ascidicolidae, Buproridae, Botryllophilidae, and Enteropsidae, with descriptions of 84 new species, Zootaxa 1, pp. 1-286 : 19

Genus Styelicola Lützen, 1968

Diagnosis. Body flexible with weak exoskeleton. Prosome not segmented or indistinctly segmented, but cephalosome and 4 pedigerous somites discernible by dorsal cephalic shield and 4 dorsal tergites. Urosome shorter than prosome, incompletely segmented. Caudal ramus bearing 6 setae. Rostrum not developed. Antennule 5- to 8-segmented; first segment bearing 2 setae. Antenna 3-segmented; first segment (coxobasis) bearing broad spine distally; second segment (first endopodal segment) unarmed; third segment (second endopodal segment) bearing terminal claw and several small setae. Mandible consisting of coxa with well-developed gnathobase bearing 4 major teeth on medial margin, and 1- or 2-segmented palp. Maxillule consisting of precoxa armed with 7 or 8 elements on arthrite, and 1- or 2-segmented palp bearing 9 to 11 setae. Maxilla consisting of syncoxa and allobasis; syncoxa bearing single endite tipped with 2 setae, or endite absent. Maxilliped lobate, digitiform, and unarmed, or armed with 1 seta distally. Legs 1-4 biramous with 2-segmented rami. Coxa of legs 1-4 unarmed. Basis of leg 1 bearing inner distal spine. Exopods tapering, with small or vestigial outer spines; endopods broad, rounded distally, unarmed or armed with few spines. Leg 5 consisting of lamellate protopod and small, setae-bearing exopod. Leg 6 represented by 3 denticles on genital operculum.

Type species. Styelẚcçla bahusẚa Lützen, 1968 by original designation.

Remarks. Three species have been assigned to the genus Styelẚcçla: SK bahusẚa associated with Styela sẚgma Hartmeyer, 1912 (as S. atlantẚca in the original description) and Styela gelatẚnçsa (Traustedt, 1886) from Swedish waters ( Lützen, 1968), Styelẚcçla lẚghtẚ Illg & Dudley, 1980 associated with eartmeyerẚa chẚnensẚs Tokioka, 1967 in the China Sea (Illg & Dudley, 1980), and Styelẚcçla çmphalus Kim I.H., Cruz-Rivera, Sherif, & El-Salmar, 2016 associated with mhallusẚa nẚgra Savigny, 1816 in the Red Sea (Kim I.H. et al., 2016). In the present account a new species is added to this genus, and Styelẚcçla lẚghtẚ is removed to a new genus.

The absence of any armature element on the first endopodal segment of the antenna seems to be the most outstanding feature of the genus Styelẚcçla within the Ascidicolidae . Other features have been considered as distinguishing characters of the genus, including: the body has a weakly sclerotized, soft exoskeleton, the maxilliped is unarmed or armed with a single seta, the armature on the rami of the swimming legs is less well developed than other genera of the family, and the exopods of the swimming legs taper distally while the endopods are very broad and appear lamellate.