Abstract
Four new species of Ancorabolina George, 2006 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Ancorabolidae) are described: Ancorabolina belgicae sp. nov. (from the Porcupine Seabight, north-east Atlantic Ocean), Ancorabolina anaximenesi sp. nov. and Ancorabolina galeata sp. nov. (both from Anaximenes Mountain, eastern Mediterranean Sea), and Ancorabolina divasecunda sp. nov. (from Cape and Guinea Basins, south-east Atlantic Ocean). Furthermore, the generic diagnosis for Ancorabolina is provided and the position of the taxon within Ancorabolidae is discussed. The characters originally employed to allocate Ancorabolina to the subfamily Ancorabolinae Sars, 1909, are critically evaluated and two true autapomorphies for a monophyletic Ancorabolinae (including Ancorabolina) are recognized. Two autapomorphies supporting Ancorabolina are proposed: (1) cephalothorax posteriorly with pair of ventrolateral cuticular processes turned backwards and (2) loss of the third setal element subapically on the antennary endopod. The urgent need for a phylogenetic re-evaluation of the paraphyletic subfamily Laophontodinae Lang, 1944 is stressed and evidenced by three characters widespread in this subfamily but also present in Ancorabolina. This may be an indication of a closer relationship of Ancorabolina with certain members of Laophontodinae. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 158, 16–55.
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