One major difficulty in identifying the gelatinous bodied bullet-shaped Siphonophore, Diphyids, is that their shape is deformed following ethanol fixation. Ethanol often is preferred over other fixatives, since samples fixed in ethanol can be used for molecular studies that can supplement morphological findings. To overcome this problem, we obtained protein mass spectra of ten species of Diphyidae found in the waters of the Kuroshio Current (Northwest Pacific and South Coast of South Korea) to test whether MALDI-ToF MS could be used as a methodology for species identification. In addition, a number of morphological characteristics that can be used with ethanol-treated samples was summarized. Concatenated phylogenetic analysis was also performed to determine the phylogenetic relationship by obtaining partial sequences of four genes (mtCOI, 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and ITS regions). Based on our integrative analysis, MALDI-ToF MS was evaluated as a potentially fast, inexpensive, and accurate tool for species identification along with conventional morphological and DNA barcoding for Diphyidae.

MALDI Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) provides a fast and reliable alternative method for species-level identification of pathogens and various metazoans. Compared to the commonly used mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) barcoding, advantages of MALDI-TOF MS are rapid species identifications and low costs. In this study, we used MALDI-TOF MS to determine whether spectra patterns of different species can be used for species identification. We obtained a total of 138 spectra from individual specimens of Tigriopus, which were subsequently used for various cluster analyses. Our findings revealed these spectra form three clear clusters with high AU value support. This study validates the viability of MALDI-TOF MS as a methodology for higher-resolution species identification, allowing detection of cryptic species of harpacticoida. In addition, we propose a new species, Tigriopus koreanus sp. nov. by utilizing integrative methods such as morphological comparison, mtCOI barcoding, and MALDI-TOF MS.

The ectosymbiotic copepods, Vostoklaophonte eupenta gen. & sp. nov. associated with the sea cucumber Eupentacta fraudatrix, was found in the subtidal zone of Peter the Great Bay, East/Japan Sea. The new genus, Vostoklaophonte, is similar to Microchelonia in the flattened body form, reduced mandible, maxillule and maxilla, but with well-developed prehensile maxilliped, and in the reduced segmentation and setation of legs 1–5. Most appendages of the new genus are more primitive than those of Microchelonia. The inclusion of the symbiotic genera Microchelonia and Vostoklaophonte gen. nov. in Laophontidae, as well as their close phylogenetic relationships, are supported by morphological observations and molecular data. This is the third record of laophontid harpacticoid copepods living in symbiosis with sea cucumbers recorded from the Korean and Californian coasts.

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A new species of Sarsamphiascus Huys, 2009 was collected from sandy sediments of Hawaii at 12 -18 m depth. While the new species, Sarsamphiascus hawaiiensis sp. nov., is morphologically most closely related to S. kawamurai (Ueda & Nagai, 2005), the two species can be distinguished by the combination of the following morphological characteristics: elongated segments of the antennule in the new species, type of outer setae of the P5 exopod (bare in S. kawamurai), position of the inner seta of the P5 exopod in both sexes (more proximal in S. kawamurai), length and type of the setae of female P6 (shorter and bare in S. kawamurai). This is the first species of Sarsamphiascus from Hawaii to be discovered. Molecular analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) and nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) genes confirmed that S. hawaiiensis and S. kawamurai are distinct species. Subjects Biodiversity, Marine Biology, Taxonomy Keywords mtCO1, Meiobenthos, 18S rRNA How to cite this article Yeom J, Lee W. 2020. A new species of the genus Sarsamphiascus Huys, 2009 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Miraciidae) from a sublittoral zone of Hawaii. PeerJ 8:e8506 http://doi.