Rhabdomoplea, a new superorder for the thaumatopsylloid copepods: the consequence of an alternative hypothesis of copepod phylogeny
Abstract The superorder Rhabdomoplea is established for copepods belonging to the order Thaumatopsylloida. Apomorphies for Rhabdomoplea are an adult prosome, including thoracic somites 1-4, complete at copepodid I, development of the posterior articulation of thoracic somite 7 of males delayed to copepodid IV and of abdominal somite 1 delayed to copepodid V, and absence of a posterior articulation of abdominal somites 2-3 forming with the anal somite a rod-like somite complex as part of the urosome. Rhabdomoplea appears to be the earliest branch of copepods because only thoracic somites 1-4 are broad throughout copepodid development, and thoracic somites 5 and 6 remain narrow. On podopleans and gymnopleans thoracic somite 5 is transformed from the anterior narrow somite to the posterior broad somite during the moult to copepodid II. On gymnopleans thoracic somite 6 also is transformed from the anterior narrow somite to the posterior broad somite but during the moult to copepodid III. Thus rhabdomopleans differ from podopleans in their body architecture as much as podopleans differ from gymnopleans. An alternative and traditional phylogeny that posits gymnopleans as the earliest branch of copepods requires reversal of these two transformations during copepod evolution; this hypothesis is not favoured here because the parsimonious hypothesis of direct, progressive transformations seems reasonable and plausible.