<i>Hemicyclops columnaris</i> sp.n. (Copepoda, Poecilostomatoida, Clausidiidae) Associated with a Coral in Panama (Pacific Side)

Abstract

Hemicyclops columnaris sp.n. is described from the scleractinian coral Porites lobata Dana on the Pacific coast of Panama. The new species may be distinguished from its 23 congeners by a combination of the body size and the shape of the genital segment in the female. Although certain members of the genus Hemicyclops are associated with crustaceans, polychaetes and other marine invertebrates, this is the first record of a species of this genus from a hard coral.