Species Card of Copepod
Harpacticoida ( Order )
    Clytemnestridae ( Family )
        Clytemnestra ( Genus )
Clytemnestra gracilis  (Claus, 1891)   (F,M)
Syn.: Goniopelte gracilis Claus,1891;
Clytemnestra scutellata : Giesbrecht, 1892 (p.568, figs.F,M: Pl. 1, fig.9; Pl. 45, figs. 16-18, 21, 23-24, 27-30, 32, 34-38); Sars, 1921 (p.100, figs.F); Vilela, 1968 (p.44, figs.F); Boxshall, 1979 (p.232, figs.F,M); Huys & al., 1996 (p.301, fig.120 H).
Clytemnestra rostrata : T. Scott, 1894 (p.106, Pl.XII, figs.47-57; Pl.XIII, figs.1-3);
Ref.:
Huys & Conroy-Dalton, 2000 (p.15, 45, Redescr., figs.F,M, Rem., comb. nov.); Huys & Boxshall, 2004 (p.278); Vives & Shmeleva, 2010 (p.94, figs.F,M, Rem.)
Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 1 of morphological figuresissued from : G.O. Sars in An Account of the Crustacea o Norway, 1921, VII, Supplement. [Pl. LXVIII]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female.
M = Md; m = Mx1; mp1 = Mx2; mp2 = Mxp


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 2 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.24]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 24, habitus (lateral).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 3 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.32]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 32, A1 (over view).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 4 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.36]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 36, A2.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 5 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.38]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 38, Mx2.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 6 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.29]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 29, Mxp.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 7 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Figs.17, 18]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 17, P3; 18, exopod of P2.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 8 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.27]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Female: 27, anal segment and caudal rami (dorsal).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 9 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Figs.21, 23]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Male: 21, thoracic segment 5 and genital segment (lateral).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 10 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.28]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Male: 28, anal segment and caudal rami (ventral).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 11 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.34]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Male: 34, A1.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 12 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Figs.30, 35, 37]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Male: 30, Mxp; 35, Md; 37, Mx1.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 13 of morphological figuresIssued from : W. Giesbrecht in Systematik und Faunistik der Pelagischen Copepoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeres-Abschnitte. – Fauna Flora Golf. Neapel, 1892, 19 , Atlas von 54 Tafeln. [Taf.45, Fig.16]. As Clytemnestra scutellata.
Male: 16, P1.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 14 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.16, Fig.8].
Female (from 35°N, 33°W): A, habitus (dorsal); urosome (ventral); C, anal somite and right caudal ramus (dorsal).
Scale bars in micrometers.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 15 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.15].
Female: Armature formula of P2-P4.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 16 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.17, Fig.9, A-B].
Female: A, urosome (ventral; inset showing setae IV-V); anal somite and right caudal ramus (dorsal).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 17 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.18, Fig.10, C]. SEM photograph.
Female: C, rostrum (frontal).


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 18 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.18, Fig.10, A]. SEM photograph.
Female: A, mandibular gnathobase.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 19 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.18, Fig.10, D]. SEM photograph.
Female: D, maxillipedal appendage showing palmar furrow.


Species Clytemnestra gracilis - Plate 20 of morphological figuresissued from : Huys and Conroy-Dalton in Bull. nat. Mus. Lond., 2000, 66 (1). [p.45, Table 1].
Diagnostic characters.
A1 = antennule; GDS = genital double-somite; AS = first abdominal somite. Measurements based on material examined in the publication.

Compl. Ref.:
? Salah S. & al., 2012 (p.155, Tableau 1); Zizah & al., 2012 (p.79, Tableau I); Lidvanov & al., 2013 (p.290, Table 2, % composition); El Arraj & al., 2017 (p.272, table 2);
NZ: 5

Distribution map of Clytemnestra gracilis by geographical zones
Loc:
N & S Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Norway (Olsofjord), G. of Guinea, ? Cape Ghir (Morocco), ? Morocco-Mauritania, off SW Azores, Portugal (inshore), W Medit. (W Basin, Napoli, S Adriatic Sea).

Type locality: E Mediterranean Sea (unspecified locality by Claus, 1891). Neotype designation: 35° N, 33° W.
N: 10 ?
Lg.:
(132) F: 1,24; (931) F: 1,330-1,562; M: 1,420-1,531; {F: 1,24-1,56; M: 1,42-1,53}
Rem.: After Huys & Conroy-Dalton (2000, p.15), Claus (1891) collected his material from an unspecified locality in the eastern Mediterranean. Clau's description was based on a single specimen of either sex. Since the type material no longer exists a neotype is designated to secure stability of nomenclature. Other material examined comes from Gulf of Guinea and South Adriatic (Croatia). Some variability was noticed in the caudal ramus length of the females (G. of Guinea), the majority having a slightly longer ramus than in Fig.8C. In the Adriatic female the spinular patches on the 1st postgenital somite are wider medially forming an almost continuous zone around the posterior margin.
For the authorsC. gracilis is distinctly larger than C. scutellata and can be distinguished from the latter by the slender caudal rami and the longer P5 which extends clearly beyond the posterior margin of the genital double-somite in the females and reaches to the rear margin of the 1st abdominal somite in the male. Females of both species can be differenciated by the ventral ornamentation pattern of the urosome (C. gracilis has lateral spinular patches on the 1st postgenital somite. Kasturirangan (1963) in his identification key to the planktonic copepods of Indian coastal waters has yet to be confirmed. An reexamination of the material of T. Scott (1894) and A. Scott (1909) from the Gulf of Guinea has revealed to be an amalgate of two species, containing C. gracilis and a smaller Goniopsyllus sp.

Identification characters after G.A. Boxshall & S.H. Halsey (2004, p.278):
1- Exopod of P1 with 4 distal setal elements; female A1 7-segmented.
2- Exopod of P5 in both sexes armed with 6 setae; 3rd exopodal segment of P2 with total of 7 spines/setae.
3- Female with dense patches of spinules posteriorly on ventral surface of 1st free abdominal somite.
Last update : 28/10/2022
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Razouls C., Desreumaux N., Kouwenberg J. and de Bovée F., 2005-2024. - Biodiversity of Marine Planktonic Copepods (morphology, geographical distribution and biological data). Sorbonne University, CNRS. Available at http://copepodes.obs-banyuls.fr/en [Accessed March 29, 2024]

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