Grice, 1969
Short description:
Chiridiella chainae is an aetideid calanoid copepod known after female (3. 56 mm in length) from the Caribbean and Sargasso seas, most probably meso-bathypelagic species.
Taxonomic description:
Female. (Description after Grice (1969) with modifications). Total length 3.56 mm. Cephalothorax about 4 times longer than abdomen. A1 23-segmented, slightly exceeding the caudal rami. Re A2 about twice as long as Ri. Ri2 A2 external lobe with 6, internal lobe with 6 long and 3 short setae; coxo- and basipodite with 1 seta each. Ri2 Md with 6 setae. Mx1 gnathobase with 10, third internal lobe with 4 (after Deevey (1974) with 2), Ri with 3, external lobe with 9, second internal lobe and Re reduced. Mx2 with thick, more chitinized spines on third-fifth endites, on fourth and fifth endites short spines are also thickened. P1 with one-segmented rami, Re with 1 external terminal spine. P2 with one-segmented Ri and 3-segmented Re, P3-P4 after Grice (1969) with 3-segmented rami, and after Deevey (1974) with 2-segmented rami.
Male unknown.
Vertical distribution:
The species was found in haul 500-1000 and total haul from 3200 m (Grice, 1969; Deevey, 1974).
Geographical distribution:
The Caribbean Sea, the Sargasso Sea (Grice, 1969; Deevey, 1974).
Type locality: 20°40'N 84°26'W (Grice, 1969).
Material examined:
Species absent in the collections of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg.