Andronov V.N., Kazus N.A., Grudina V.F., Matviy S.G. 2006. Nannocalanus minor (Claus, 1863) (Crustacea: Calanoida: Calanidae) from the Sicilian Channel of the Mediterranean Sea // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.15. No.1: 1–8 [in English].

P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS, Atlantic Branch 1, Prospect Mira, Kaliningrad 236000 Russia.

Key words: Nannocalanus minor, Calanidae, Mediterranean Sea, redescription.

Abstract. A redescription of Nannocalanus minor from waters of the Sicilian Channel of the Mediterranean Sea is provided. This area is close to the north-east part of Sicily, near the locality where the locus typicus was described. Originally, this description contained only the text [Claus, 1863]; later Giesbrecht's [1892] brief description of a species was added by numerous figures. Unfortunately, several characters, that would allow to distinguish N. minor from representatives of Nannocalanus occurring in other areas of the World Ocean were not provided. In particular, it was the lack of a detailed description and figures of the female’s genital somite and some details of the male’s leg P5 that led to the false impression that N. minor might have a cosmopolitan distribution. Recent publications testify that Nannocalanus includes, at least, 2 species: N. minor (Claus) and N. elegans Andronov. The present studies shows that N. elegans from the southeast areas of the Pacific Ocean is morphologically very close to N. minor from the Mediterranean Sea.

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