Annotated checklist and new records of Harpacticoida (Copepoda) from a coastal system of northern Colombia, South America

Abstract

The harpacticoid copepod fauna of the Laguna Navío Quebrado, La Guajira, a protected area of the northern Colombian coast, was studied from plankton samples obtained at littoral areas covered by vegetation (macrophytes and mangroves), and at limnetic habitats close to an oyster bank. A total of 14 species of harpacticoid copepods are reported from the surveyed area. Nine of these species are new to the Colombian copepod fauna: Schizopera knabeni Lang, 1965, Cletocamptus helobius Fleeger, 1980, Quinquelaophonte quinquespinosa (Sewell, 1924), Sarsamphiascus hirtus (Gurney, 1927), Parategastes herteli Jacobi, 1953, Enhydrosoma lacunae Jakubisiak, 1933, Metis holothuriae (Edwards, 1891), Robertsonia propinqua (T. Scott, 1894) and Nitokra taylori Gómez, Carrasco & Morales-Serna, 2012. The first two species have not been hitherto recorded from South America and the last one is reported for the Americas for the first time. Nine of these species are also new records for the Caribbean Sea. This is the first report on the marine benthic harpacticoid Copepoda from northern Colombia. A complete species list plus brief diagnostic descriptions of the new records for the Colombian harpacticoid copepod fauna are provided together with morphologic remarks, notes on the variability of some species and their distribution.