title: Doridicola indistinctus n. sp. (Copepoda: Poecilostomatoida: Rhynchomolgidae) associated with the soft coral Gersemia fruticosa Sars (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Nephtheidae) from the White Sea.
abstract: A new species of poecilostomatoid copepod, Doridicola indistinctus n. sp. (Rhynchomolgidae), is described from specimens found in association with the soft coral Gersemia fruticosa Sars (Alcyonacea: Nephtheidae), collected from the White Sea. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following features in the female: (i) antenna tipped, with two subequal large claws which are about as long as the segment bearing them; (ii) two naked, extremely unequal setae on the middle segment of the maxilliped, the short, medial seta less than half-length of the outer seta; and (iii) free segment of leg 5 bears the basal swelling and is ornamented with spinules on the outer surface. This is the first report of a copepod occurring in symbiosis with nephtheid corals from the Arctic Zone. It also constitutes the northernmost record for a species of Doridicola Leydig, 1853, which is the largest genus of the Rhynchomolgidae Burmeister, 1835 comprising 52 species, including the present new species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840-3702, USA.
authors.forename: Ju-Shey
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Viatcheslav N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Ivanenko
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000469:parasitology*; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000469:parasitology*; D033342:Copepoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D008853:Microscopy