A new species of the continental shelf hyperbenthic genus Pilarella is described, the first from the Indo-Pacific. This is the second species of Pilarella known, and the first description of a male in the genus. The new species is easily distinguished from other species of Pilarella (P. longicornis) based on: (1) short caudal rami, approximately 1.5 times longer than wide; (2) 2 setae on the mandibular endopod; (3) 6 setae on the maxillular coxal epipodite; and (4) in the female, a short left antennule reaching the posterior border of the genital double-somite. The new diagnosis of Pilarella differs from Metacalanus in the separation of ancestral segments IX-XII and XIV-XV of the antennule, and the presence of 5-6 setae on the maxillular praecoxal arthrite. Pilarella is also separated from Metacalanalis based on the absence of a seta on the third ancestral segment of the antennary exopod, the symmetry of legs 1-3, the presence of a medial basal seta on the female leg 5, and 2 lateral exopodal spines on the female leg 5. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of some representative genera of the family Arietellidae, including the present new species, recovers two arietellid clades (Metacalanus- and Arietellus-clades) as in previous studies. Dichotomous keys for the genera of Arietellidae and the species of Pilarella are included.
Keywords: Arietelloidea; Nansei Islands; calanoid copepods; colonization; hyperbenthos; molecular phylogeny.
Sota Komeda, Kenta Adachi, Susumu Ohtsuka.