Gelyella

Gelyella
700 × model of Gelyella monardi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Copepoda
Order: Gelyelloida
Huys, 1988 [3]
Family: Gelyellidae
Rouch & Lescher-Moutoué, 1977 [1]
Genus: Gelyella
Rouch & Lescher-Moutoué, 1977
Species [2]
  • Gelyella droguei
    Rouch & Lescher-Moutoué, 1977
  • Gelyella monardi
    Moeschler & Rouch, 1988

Gelyella is a genus of freshwater copepods.[4] They live in groundwater in karstic areas of southern France and western Switzerland. The two species are the only members of the family Gelyellidae and, although previously placed in the order Harpacticoida, a new order, Gelyelloida, was erected for this family alone.[5]

Gelyella shows some paedomorphosis, in which animals reach sexual maturity while still partly resembling juveniles.[4] The adults are 300–400 micrometres (0.012–0.016 in) long with a nearly cylindrical body that tapers towards the rear.[5] There are eleven body segments, the last of which is the length of the previous two segments combined.[6]

The Gorges de l'Areuse, where Gelyella monardi was discovered
  1. ^ "Gelyellidae Rouch & Lescher-Moutoué, 1977". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  2. ^ T. Chad Walter (2009). T. Chad Walter & Geoff Boxshall (ed.). "Gelyella Rouch & Lescher-Moutoue, 1977". World Copepoda database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  3. ^ "Gelyelloida Huys, 1988". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Diana M. P. Galassi (2001). "Groundwater copepods: diversity patterns over ecological and evolutionary scales". In R. M. Lopes, J. W. Reid & C. E. F. Rocha (ed.). Copepoda: Developments in Ecology, Biology and Systematics. Hydrobiologia 453/454. pp. 227–253. doi:10.1023/A:1013100924948.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Huys was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Pascal Moeschler & Raymond Rouch (1988). "Découverte d'un nouveau représentant de la famille des Gelyellidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) dans les eaux souterraines de Suisse". Crustaceana. 55 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1163/156854088X00203. JSTOR 20104370.