Asterocheres hirsutus, a new species of parasitic copepod (Siphonostomatoida : Asterocheridae) associated with an Antarctic hexactinellid sponge

Abstract

The asterocherid siphonostomatoid copepod Asterocheres hirsutus, a new species, is described from a hexactinellid sponge of the genus Rossella Carter collected during the Polastern cruise ANT XVII/3, off South Shetland Islands. The distinctive features of this new species are: a female with 21-segmented and a male with 17-segmented antennules, praecoxal endite of maxillule more than four times longer than palp and the ornamentation of the posterior surface of legs 1–4. A detailed description of both sexes is presented.