Three new species of Cumacea (Crustacea: Peracarida) from Costa Rica

Abstract

Three new species of Cumacea are described from Costa Rican coastal waters. The bodotriids, Cyclaspys breedyae n. sp. and Cyclaspis vargasae n. sp., occurred on the Pacific coast, and the nannastacid, Cumella spinifera n. sp., came from a shallow back reef habitat of the Caribbean coast. Cyclaspis breedyae n. sp., which was collected from shallow water (1 1.5 m) at a beach just north of Puerto Caldera, has affinities with Cyclaspis varians Calman, 1912 from the northwestern Atlantic; it differs by having a carapace with fewer (usually 4), but larger, dorsal spines behind the ocular lobe and by having the pseudorostrum not extending beyond the ocular lobe. Cyclaspis vargasae n. sp., which was collected at a depth of 35 m off San Jos Island on the northwest coast, has some similarities with western Atlantic species, Cyclaspis alba Roccatagliata & Moreira 1986 and C. variabilis Roccatagliata & Moreira, 1986, but it differs from these species by having a carapace with oblique dorsal crests and a lateral ridge running anteriorly from the posteroventral margin of the carapace to just above the antennal notch. Cumella spinifera n. sp. was collected on the Caribbean coast at Puerto Vargas and has its closest affinities with C. zimmeri Petrescu, Iliffe, & Sarbu, 1994, known from shallow Caribbean waters off Jamaica. It is distinguished from the Jamaican species by several characters, including having the female carapace with more dorsal spines (10 verses 3 on the carapace of C. zimmeri) and being more dorsally pronounced with a papulate integument.