Sars, 1907
Short Description:
Gaetanus brevicaudatus is an aetideid calanoid copepod known after female (3.90-4.50 mm in length) from the Canary Islands region and the north-western and south-eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomic Description:
Female. Total length 3.90-4.50 mm. Cephalothorax about 3.6 times longer than abdomen. Frontal spine absent. Spines on Th5 posterior corners situated in the middle of Th5 posterior border (lateral view), very short. A1 by 3 last segments longer than body. Re1 A2 with 1 seta (after Sars's figure (Sars, 1925)), Re2 A2 with 2 (1 medial and 1 distal) setae. Md palp base with 2, Ri1 Md with 2, Ri2 Md with 9 long, robust terminal setae and 1 posterior seta. Mx1 second internal lobe with 5, Ri with 14 setae. Mxp protopodite with thin, badly visible lateral plate. P1 with 3-segmented Re, each segment supplied with external spine, first external spine reaching the base of the second, second not reaching the base of third external spine. Ri P2 2-segmented. P4 coxopodite with about 30 spines.
Male unknown.
Vertical distribution:
The species was found in total hauls from depths of more than 1000 m.
Geographical distribution:
Atlantic Ocean: the species is known only from the Canary Islands region (Sars, 1925). In the Pacific Ocean recorded in the north-western part in the region of Izu-Bonin Trench (Markhaseva, 1996), also known from the south-eastern part of ocean (Bjornberg, 1973).
Type locality: 27°43'N 18°28'W (Sars, 1907).
Material examined:
1 female from sample 202. See examined samples module.