ON THE INVALIDITY OF PONTELLA MARPLATENSIS RAMÍREZ, 1966, A SYNONYM OF P. PATAGONIENSIS (LUBBOCK, 1853) (COPEPODA, PONTELLIDAE) BY CARLA DERISIO 1,2,3 ), FERNANDO RAMÍREZ 1 ) and HERMES MIANZAN 1,2 ) 1 ) Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), P ◦ Victoria Ocampo N ◦ 1, P.O. Box 175, B7602HSA Mar del Plata, Argentina 2 ) Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), FCEyN, CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina Lubbock (1853a) described Labidocera darwini n. gen., n. sp. on the basis of adult specimens of both sexes collected by Darwin in coastal waters off Patagonia (Argentina) from the world cruise of HMS “Beagle” during 1902. The author hesitated about the creation of the new genus, which he finally established “on account of the number and position of the eyes, and of the very remarkable structure of the ninth and tenth joints of the right male antenna”. In relation to the eyes, Lubbock (1853a) pointed out the difference with Pontella Dana, 1846 “in having two large eyes instead of three”. Lubbock (1853b) reported later, from the same Patagonian collection, the finding of specimens “nearly allied to Labidocera darwini”. In view of some differences, the author created three subgenera, viz., Labidocera (Labidocera), L. (Iva), and L. (Ivella). This latter subgenus was created to lodge L. patagoniensis n. sp., the sole representative of the new subgenus. Lubbock (1853b) focused on the male fifth leg, characterized by the presence of a much developed left ramus, sharp and horny at the extreme, and without endopod (“pes thoracicus quintus sinister, magnus, fortis, ad apicem acutus et corneus, ramum internum non gerens”). We recently examined new specimens collected from coastal waters off Mar del Plata (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) and the comparison with Lubbock’s text and drawings showed unequivocal evidence that they correspond to Pontella patagoniensis (Lubbock, 1853b). Male and female specimens from the same location described earlier by Ramírez (1966) under the name Pontella marplatensis n. sp. are also consistent with the description of Labidocera (Ivella) patagoniensis by Lubbock (1853b), 3 ) e-mail: cderisio@inidep.edu.ar © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 Crustaceana 84 (12-13): 1659-1660 Also available online: www.brill.nl/cr DOI:10.1163/156854011X605837