Maraenobiotus pescei sp. nov. [partim.] Maraenobiotus vejdovskyi Mrázek, 1893 – Pesce et al. 1994: p. 83, figs. 1–10. Type locality Italy, Abruzzo, L’ Aquila, Gioia dei Marsi, temporary stream Fosso Perrone, a tributary of the river Sangro, epibenthic and interstitial habitat in organic detritus. Type material Holotype female, illustrated by Pesce et al. (1994) in their figures 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10; allotype male, illustrated by Pesce et al. (1994) in their figures 3, 4, 6, 8; both from the type locality, originally deposited in the Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università di L’ Aquila, Via Vetoio 14, 67100 Coppito, L’ Aquila, Italy. Current location the same, but condition not checked since the 2009 L’ Aquila earthquake which damaged many slides (Prof. Diana M. P. Galassi, personal communication, July 2014). [not examined] Etymology The species name is dedicated to Prof. Giuseppe Lucio Pesce, who discovered these specimens in Italy with his collaborators. The name is a noun in the genitive singular. Description Female as illustrated by Pesce et al. (1994) in their figures 1–10, as Maraenobiotus veydovskyi Mrázek, 1893. Remarks The female specimen of this Italian population has truncated principal caudal setae as in Maraenobiotus veydovskyi truncatus Gurney, 1932, and the caudal rami look very similar in shape and size, except that the Italian population has slightly smaller caudal rami in proportion to the anal somite. However, M. pescei sp. nov. differs from M. vejdovskyi truncatus by much reduced (or absent) all lateral setae on the caudal rami, as well as by a much longer apophysis on the male Endp P3. Maraenobiotus pescei differs from M. slovenicus sp. nov. also by very reduced (or absent) all lateral setae on the caudal rami, while the caudal rami of two other species from the M. vejdovskyi complex, M. ishidai sp. nov. (see above) and M. galassiae sp. nov. (see below), are cylindrical and much longer.

Published as part of Brancelj, Anton & Karanovic, Tomislav, 2015, A new subterranean Maraenobiotus (Crustacea: Copepoda) from Slovenia challenges the concept of polymorphic and widely distributed harpacticoids, pp. 2905-2928 in Journal of Natural History 49 (45) on page 2923, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1022620, http://zenodo.org/record/4002329