Tupinicaris rupestris Corgosinho, Rocha, Neves, Calixto, Mendes & Schizas, 2024, gen. et sp. nov.
Creators: name: Corgosinho, Paulo Henrique Costa
name: Rocha, Carlos Eduardo Falavigna Da
name: Neves, Gilmar Perbiche
name: Calixto, Bruno Rocha Athayde
name: Mendes, Maria Fernanda Lopes
name: Schizas, Nikolaos V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Copepoda
Harpacticoida
Parastenocarididae
Tupinicaris
Tupinicaris rupestris

description: Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. Corgosinho, da Rocha and Perbiche Neves, 2024(9 figures);
type species.
Zoobank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 9E5F4ED0-AAC3-4042-AC66-BDB79095F266
Type material: Holotype, one dissected male on five slides (UFBA-4830). Allotype, one dissected female on six slides (UFBA-4831). Paratypes, four males (UFBA-4832) and eight females preserved in alcohol 70% (UFBA-4833), one female dissected in four slides (UFBA-4834), one intact male mounted in one slide (UFBA-4835).
Etymology: The generic name is in honor of one of the largest Brazilian native ethnic groups which were once widespread throughout the Brazilian territory, including vast areas of the Minas Gerais state, up to the Jequitinhonha River basin, combining the name of this ethnic group with the ancient Greek substantive for shrimp, καρίς (caris). The specific epithet “ rupestris ” refers to the kind of Biome predominant in the type locality.
Type locality: Sandy beach downstream the Crioulos waterfall at Parque Estadual do Rio Preto, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Coordinates 18° 8’43.72” S; 43°22’9.61” W (Fig. 1).
Description of male (Figs. 2-5, 8). Length 303 µm measured from rostrum to end of telson excluding furca. Rostrum not fused to cephalothorax, with wide base and two sensilla on tip (Fig. 2A, B). Cephalothorax (Fig. 2A, B, 8B) and Urs-2-5 with dorsal integumental window (Fig. 2A, B). Patterns of sensilla as depicted (Fig. 2A, B). Telson with bifid spiniform processes ventrally and distally inserted, internal to furcal insertion (Figs. 2A, C, 8A, C). Fu cylindrical, tapering distally, divergent, 1.5 times longer than telson, about 3.5 times as long as wide, armed with seven setae (Setae I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII), with distinct gap between setae I-III and VII; setae I-III inserted contiguously on proximal third; seta VII on distal third; setae II and III shortest; seta I and VI approximately of same size; seta V unipinate and longest; seta IV unipinate, approximately as long as seta VII and 1/3 the length of seta V (Fig. 2 A, C).
A1 (Fig. 3A, B) eight-segmented; segments 5-8 forming functional unit for clasping the female; segments armature as follows: 1(0)/ 2(5)/ 3(4)/ 4(2)/ 5(2+ (1+ae))/ 6(1Ms)/ 7(1+1Ms)/ 8(6+ acrothec of 2+ae+distal hyaline margin).
A2 (Fig. 3C) allobasis without abexopodal armature; one-segmented exp with one unipinate seta; free endopodal segment armed with two inner spines and five distal setae/spines, two of them geniculated.
Labrum (Fig. 3I) triangular in lateral view, with distal row of spinules.
Md Fig 3D, E coxal gnathobasis with distal row of teeth and seta; palp one-segmented, with two distal setae.
Mx1 (Fig. 3F) praecoxal arthrite with five elements (surface seta thick and blunt, three claw-like pinnate spines, and slender seta); coxal endite with one seta; basis with three setae.
Mx (Fig. 3G) allobasis with two endites; proximal endite with one seta; distal endite with two smooth setae and serrate spine; proximal endopodal segment drawn out into claw; distal endopodal segment with two setae.
Mxp (Fig. 3H) subchelate; syncoxa about 1/3 length of basis; enp drawn into spinulose claw.
P1 (Fig. 4A) coxa and basis smooth; basis with outer seta and outer pore; enp two-segmented, enp-1 nearly as long as exp-1 and exp-2 combined, with two long inner setulae and three long outer setulae; enp-2 with one outer spine and one long geniculate seta, with posterior hyaline frill; exp three-segmented, exp-1 with outer spine, proximal and distal rows of spinules on outer margin, exp-2 unarmed, with two outer spinules at distal portion, exp- 3 with two outer spinules proximally, with two outer spines and two geniculate apical setae.
P2 (Fig. 4B) coxa smooth; basis without outer seta, with row of spinules proximally on outer margin and one outer pore; enp one-segmented, slightly shorter than half of exp-1, with strong subdistal inner spinule, two strong distal spinules and a distal seta; exp three-segmented, exp-1 with rows of strong spinules proximally and distally inserted, and with inner hyaline frill; outer spine very long, almost as long as the exp-1 and exp-2 combined; exp-2 unarmed, with distal row of strong spinules; exp-3 with outer and distal row of spinules and inner hyaline frill; one outer unipinate spine, one distal unipinate spine, and one bipinate apical seta.
A P3 (Fig. 4C) coxa and basis smooth and rectangular, longer than their width; basis with a small bulge proximally to setiform enp, ornamented with spinules on outer margin, with long outer seta, and outer pore; exp-1 almost straight on its proximal 2/3, expanding on its distal 1/3, with row of outer spinules medially inserted; exp-1 followed by thin and scythe-shaped apophysis fused to exp-1; thumb shorter than apophysis and hook-shaped.
P4 (Fig. 4D) coxa smooth; basis with outer pore, outer seta, and a row of spinules in the insertion of this seta; strong spinule inserted anteriorly to thin and long enp; enp almost as long as exp-1 and ornamented with row of very small spinules along outer margin; exp-1 without inner hyaline frill, with rows of strong spinules proximally and distally to outer spine; exp-2 with distal row of spinules, stronger on the outer margin; exp-3 with subdistal and distal rows of spinules, with outer unipinate spine, distal unipinate seta and inner hyaline frill.
A P5 (Fig. 5A, B) long, with short acuminate tip, distal rim of which reaching beyond middle of next urosomite, with three outer setae inserted on its distal third, distal most seta the shortest; distal hyaline cushion probably representing a transformed seta; with row of spinules covering more than half of inner margin.
P6 (Fig. 5A, B) an unarmed ventral flap.
Description of female (Figs 6, 7, 9). Length 351μm, measured from tip of rostrum to end of telson, excluding Fu. Sexual dimorphism expressed in A1, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and genital-double somite. Cephalothorax and Urs-2-4 with dorsal integumental windows (Fig. 6A).
A1 seven-segmented (Fig. 6B); armature as follows: 1(0)/2(4)/3(4)/4(1+ (1+ae))/5(1)/6(1)/7(7+ (2+ae)).
P1 (Fig. 7A) as in male, except for fine ornamentation; enp-1 with four inner setulae and three outer setulae.
P2 (Fig. 7B) as in male, except for the fine ornamentation of enp, with subdistal outer spinule, three distal spinules and distal seta.
P3 (Fig. 7C) coxa without ornamentation; basis with long outer seta and outer pore; exp two-segmented, exp1 with strong spinules on outer margin, proximal and distal to outer spine, and row of spinules on inner distal corner; exp-2 with subdistal row of spinules on outer margin, with inner hyaline frill, outer bipinate spine and distal unipinate seta; enp one-segmented, club-shaped with short distal seta.
P4 (Fig. 7D) as in male, except for enp spiniform, with outer and distal spinules along its distal half, almost as long as exp-1 and 2 combined.
P5 (Fig. 6C) long, with short acuminate distal tip, distal rim of which reaching beyond the middle of the genital double somite, with three outer setae inserted on distal third, with distal hyaline cushion probably representing a transformed seta; with row of spinules at distal third of inner margin.
Genital field (Fig. 6C, D, 9 A-C) T-shaped with long rima genitalis, more than two thirds longer than the whole length of the genital double somite.
A A Discussion
Four characters are of paramount importance to place Tupinicaris rupestris gen.et sp.nov. within the Fontinalicaridinae. They are 1) the gap between the outer setae I-III of furca and seta VII, with the outer setae inserted on the proximal 1/3 of furca and the dorsal seta VII on the distal 1/3; 2) the club-shaped female P3 enp; 3) the longer than wide genital apparatus of the female, with a long rima genitalis; 4) the P5 of both male and female reaching pass the middle of the next urosomite. Maybe we could add a fifth character, which is not so characteristic in Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. as it is in other Fontinalicaridinae Schminke, 2010 such as Fontinalicaris sensu Martínez Arbizu (1994) and Proserpinicaris Jakobi, 1972. This is the single anterior long spinule accompanying the male enp. In many fontinalicaridids, this spinule occurs between the exp-1 and the enp of the male P4. In Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov., it moves outwardly and anteriorly to the male enp instead.
As described by Schminke (2010), in the Parastenocaridinae Chappuis, 1940 there is no gap between the setae I-III and the seta VII, in the female the P3 enp is spiniform and longer than in the Fontinalicaridinae; the P5 of both males and females do not reach the middle of the next somite and the genital field is a transverse slit. When a spinule accompanies the male enp, it is inserted on the outer margin of the basis or anteriorly to the enp, normally as a very short raw of spinules.
Within the Neotropical region, it is not easy to decipher the phylogenetic position of Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. Despite some characters hitherto found within the Parastenocarididae, such as the scythe-shaped male P3 apophysis, the hyaline cushion on the distal rim of both males and females P5 (probably representing a transformed seta), and the ventral biphid spiniform process in the telson, there are only a handful of characters which could help us infer the phylogenetic affinities of this new genus and species. Five characters are of high importance in this respect: 1) the long outer spine of the P2 exp-1 of both males and females; 2) the rectangular coxa and basis of the male P3; 3) the inner bulge on the basis of the male P3; 4) the long and thin male P4 enp; 5) and the presence of only 3 outer setae of the male and female P5.
The long outer spine in the P2 exp-1 was described for Noodtcaris tapajosensis (Noodt, 1963) (viz. Gaviria et al. 2017). In Noodtcaris tapajosensis, differently from Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov., a long exp-1 outer spine occurs in both P2 and P4, longer in the P2. We can say nothing about this character in the female of Noodtcaris tapajosensis, given the female of this species is unknown.
Within the Neotropical region, the rectangular basis of the male P3 occurs in Noodtcaris tapajosensis, Colombocaris isabellae Gaviria et al., 2017, Iticocaris itica (Noodt, 1962), Santaremicaris Corgosinho et al., 2021; Siolicaris, and Brasilibathynellocaris. It is quadrangular in Murunducaris, Forficatocaris and Potamocaris. Iticocaris, a genus that is considered closely related to Brasilibathynellocaris, sharing different versions of a tweezershaped male P3 is only superficially similar to Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. Except for the bulge in the inner margin of the basis of the P3 of the male of Iticocaris, also present in Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov., there is no other character indicating a close relationship between this species and Iticocaris plus Brasilibathynellocaris. The whole morphology of Colombocaris places it in a completely different phylogenetic lineage within the Neotropical Fontinalicaridinae. There is not a single character that could bring Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. and Colombocaris phylogenetically close to each other; and the morphology of the P 5 in both species supports a remote relationship. Santaremicaris, despite the rectangular basis of the male P3, is closely related to Murunducaris as evidenced by the ornamentation of the inner margin of the male P1 with a strong spinule or spinules in these genera, and the morphology of the male P5 with a large intercoxal sclerite with a medial cuticular process. Additionally, we hypothesize that in males of both genera, the distal P3 spine is hypertrophied, fused to the limb in Santaremicaris (Corgosinho et al. 2021). Again, there is no evidence that could support a close relationship between Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. and Murunducaris and Santaremicaris. Despite the rectangular basis of the male P3, Siolicaris differ from Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. in every single aspect.
A thin male P4 enp is found in Noodtcaris tapajosensis, Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov., and Iticocaris itica. Again, a close inspection of this structure does not support a close relationship between these species. In Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. the male P4 enp is thin and long, but dimorphic, occurring a long and spiniform P4 enp on the female. In Noodtcaris tapajosensis the male P4 is extremely reduced. To date, no such character was found on female parastenocaridids, but we cannot risk any further speculation. In Iticocaris itica, there is practically no dimorphism in the P4 enp.
Noodtcaris tapajosensis has a long and untransformed P5, with four outer setae. The shape of it, except for the distal hyaline cushion of Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov., is similar to what we can find in the later species.
A However, a closer inspection of the distribution of the outer setae does not support a close relationship between these species. In Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. nov. the two outer exopodal setae (the proximal one and the middle one?) are close together. In Noodtcaris tapajosensis there is a larger gap between the proximal outer exopodal seta and the two distal ones. Males with two exopodal setae in the P5 occur in Brasilibathynellocaris, Siolicaris, Iticocaris, and Santaremicaris. As mentioned above, the condition observed in Santaremicaris and described by Corgosinho et al. (2021) would be homologous to what occurs in Murunducaris; the distal seta in Santaremicaris becoming hypertrophied as in Murunducaris, but fusing to the segment distally. When we observe Siolicaris sandhya Ranga Reddy, 2001 (viz. Corgosinho et al. 2012b) and the juvenile of Brasilibathynellocaris salvadorensis (Noodt, 1962) (viz. Corgosinho et al. 2010a) it is evident that what is missing in other Siolicaris or adults of Brasilibathynellocaris is the proximal outer exopodal seta of the male P5; in Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp., it seems that what is missing is the distal element, which would be transformed into a hyaline cushion. Evidence of this, however, could be acquired only by the observation of the copepodids, especially the CV instar.
Tupinicaris rupestris gen. et sp. is an interesting genus from the hyporheic of the Jequitinhonha River hydrographic basin, a region in the heart of one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity (Meyers et al. 2000), with only a few scattered data about meiofauna and the hyporheic copepods in particular (Corgosinho and Martinez Arbizu 2005; Corgosinho et al. 2007b; Corgosinho et al. 2010b). It is an intriguing fontinalicaridid genus with clear and unique apomorphies but lacks clear morphological synapomorphies that could reveal its position within the Neotropical fontinalicaridids.
At the time this work was accepted for publication, we have discovered a second species of the genus, from a different locality within the PERP (State Park of Rio Preto), and it will be described elsewhere in a future publication.
description: Published as part of Corgosinho, Paulo Henrique Costa, Rocha, Carlos Eduardo Falavigna Da, Neves, Gilmar Perbiche, Calixto, Bruno Rocha Athayde, Mendes, Maria Fernanda Lopes & Schizas, Nikolaos V., 2024, A new genus and species of Parastenocarididae Chappuis, 1940 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) from the Espinhaço Mountain Range (Brazil) with an unclear phylogenetic position within the Fontinalicaridinae Schminke, 2010, pp. 151-165 in Zootaxa 5512 (2) on pages 153-164, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5512.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13848601