A new interstitial cyclopoid copepod from a sandy beach on the western shore of Lake Baikal, Siberia

Boxshall G.A. ¹, T.D. Evstigneeva ² & P.F. Clark ¹
Hydrobiologia, 268: 99-107 (1993)

A new species of cyclopoid copepod, Diacyclops biceri sp. nov., is described from Lake Baikal. It was found in the interstitial water of a sandy beach at Buchta Peschanaya on the western shore of the central basin of Baikal. The new species is unique in possessing 2-segmented endopods in swimming leg 3 and 4. Swimming legs 2 to 4 have 3-segmented exopods. The slender body form, the lack of the antennal exopodal seta, and the presence of a secondary "pseudosomite" anterior to the genital double somite of the adult female are interpreted as adaptations to the interstitial habitat. The harpacticoid Epactophanes richardi Mrazek was found in the same interstitial habitat as D. biceri. All species of Acanthocyclops and Diacyclops from the Lake Baikal are reported.

1. Department of Zoology - British Museum (Natural History)
Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD England; e-mail gab@nhm.ac.uk

2. Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
P.O. Box 4199, 66403 Irkutsk, Russia

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