The Buproridae Thorell, 1859, a family of ascidicolous copepods (Copepoda: Cyclopoida)

Abstract

The adult female of Buprorus loveni Thorell, 1859, a cyclopoid copepod inhabiting the branchial cavities of solitary ascidians, is redescribed in detail from new material collected in Scandinavian waters and from the southern part of the North Atlantic off Mauritania. The antennal segmentation pattern exhibited by all seven subfamilies of the family Ascidicolidae Thorell, 1860 is compared. The segmentation of the Buprorinae is different from that of all other subfamilies within the ascidicolid series. It is concluded that the antenna of Buprorus is not an appropriate model for interpreting the segmentation of other ascidicolids because the Buprorinae is the only subfamily in which the first and second endopodal segments are primitively fused and the third is distinct. The Buproridae Thorell, 1859 is here treated as a separate family within the Cyclopoida.