Caribeopsyllus chawayi, new genus, new species (Copepoda: Cyclopoida: Thaumatopsyllidae), from a Mexican reef area

A member of the cyclopoid family Thaumatopsyllidae was found in plankton samples collected at night in a reef area of the southern portion of the Mexican Caribbean coast. This copepod shows a combination of characters peculiar enough to designate it as a new genus and species. The new genus Caribeopsyllus can be distinguished mainly by the presence of 4 urosomal somites, a fused first pediger, a I-segmented fifth leg, 3 terminal furcal setae, and anal somite over 35% of total body length. The new genus differs from the other known genera in the family also in the proportions of the body and some appendages. Only 3 other monotypic genera of this group are known, each from Sweden and Norway, Nicobar Islands, and Australia. This is the first record of a thaumatopsyliid in the Western Hemisphere.