Three new genera of the Ridgewayiidae (Copepoda, Calanoida) from anchialine caves in the Bahamas Audun Fosshagen & Thomas M. Iliffe Fosshagen A, Iliffe TM. 2003. Three new genera of the Ridgewayiidae (Copepoda, Calanoida) from anchialine caves in the Bahamas. Sarsia 88:16–35. SARSIA Stargatia palmeri gen. et sp. nov. was obtained in great numbers in plankton from very low dissolved oxygen waters of Stargate Blue Hole, South Andros at 44 m depth. The species shows similarities to Exumellina bucculenta Fosshagen in the modifications of the endopod of both mandible and maxillule, and by the presence of only two outer spines on the third exopod segment of legs 3 and 4. The rostrum comprises two rounded lobes without filaments. The right antennule of the male is modified in proximal part with extra geniculations. It differs from other ridgewayiids by not having the typical offset third exopod segment in the female leg 5. Robpalmeria asymmetrica gen. et sp. nov. was also recorded from Stargate Blue Hole. In the female the last somite of the prosome is asymmetrical. The rostrum is narrow with two filaments at the tip. The maxilliped is strongly developed, reflexed and with a condensed endopod bearing several modified setae; suggesting raptorial feeding. Leg 5 in the male has complex exopods and rudimentary endopods. Normancavia minuta gen. et sp. nov. was obtained from Norman’s Pond Cave, Exumas. It is reminiscent of R. asymmetrica but differs much in leg 5 of both sexes. It is the only ridgewayiid lacking an endopod of leg 5 in the female. Leg 5 in the male bears elongated endopods with distal setal elements. All three genera, most conspicuous in Stargatia, have a proximal geniculation in the right antennule of the male. Audun Fosshagen, University of Bergen, Department of Fisheries and Marine Biology, P.O. Box 7800, NO-5020 Bergen, Norway. E-mail: audun.fosshagen@ifm.uib.no Thomas M. Iliffe, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Department of Marine Biology, Galveston, TX 77553-1675, USA. E-mail: iliffet@tamug.tamu.edu Keywords: Calanoida; Ridgewayiidae; taxonomy; anchialine caves; Bahamas. INTRODUCTION Ridgewayiids are primitive calanoid copepods from shallow waters in tropical and subtropical areas and are often closely connected with the bottom or with caves. Five genera were hitherto known and all except Ridge- wayia Thompson & A. Scott, 1903 were discovered in recent years. All are represented in the Caribbean area (Fosshagen & Iliffe 1998). The most characteristic feature of the family is a modification of the exopod of leg 5 in females. The third segment has a very narrow articulation with the second and this articulation is offset medially, partly through the expansion of the distal part of the second segment. Usually ridgewayiids have primitive and only slightly modified mouthparts and 3-segmented rami of legs 1–4, with exceptions in the mouthparts of Exumella Fosshagen, 1970 and Exumellina Fosshagen, 1998, and in the legs of Placocalanus Ohtsuka, Fosshagen & Soh, 1996. The most common and widely distributed genus is Ridgewayia , with 11 nominal species recorded in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific regions, both in and outside caves (Ferrari 1995; Barthe ´le ´my & al. 1998; Ohtsuka & al. 2000). Species are often found in swarms among corals and one species is also asso- ciated with an actiniarian (Humes & Smith 1974). Exumella is caught both in and outside caves (Foss- hagen & Iliffe 1991), and is also found in the Mediterranean (Jaume & Boxshall 1995) and in the Indo-Pacific (Walter 1986). Placocalanus is caught only in benthic habitats outside caves and has also been recorded in Japan (Ohtsuka & al. 1996). Brattstromia Fosshagen, 1991 and Exumellina are monotypic and exclusively cave living. Brattstromia has been recorded from two caves in Belize (Fosshagen & Iliffe 1991) and Exumellina from one cave in the Bahamas (Fosshagen & Iliffe 1998), but now also from another cave in the area. The three new genera to be described below were all obtained by cave diving in two anchialine caves in the Bahamas. They show various modifications of the mouthparts, thus probably reflecting some new feeding strategies within the family. DOI 10.1080/00364820310000256 # 2003 Taylor & Francis Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway