Marine darcythompsoniids of the Turkish coasts with a description of Leptocaris emekdasi sp.nov (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Darcythompsoniidae) from the Aegean coast of Turkey

The marine harpacticoid fauna of Turkey is inadequately known, despite the fact that the country has a vast shoreline. An intensive study of harpacticoid copepods from the intertidal zone of Turkish coasts resulted in the discovery of Leptocaris emekdasi sp. nov., L. igneus and L. biscayensis as Turkish fauna. The female specimen of L. emekdasi sp. nov. described in this study was collected from intertidal zone of the Aegean coast of Turkey. This new species is morphologically most closely related to L. insularis, and can be distinguished from its congeners by the presence of surface protuberances on the second to fourth thoracic somites, genital double somite and anal somite; by having more robust and shorter distal spines on the antennary exopod; by the unisegmented maxillulary palp; by the bare and shorter inner seta on P1 enp-2; and by the patch of sclerotized surface areas on the anterior surface of coxae of P1-P4.