New hyperbenthic species of Misophriopsis and Misophriella, first record of misophrioid copepods (Crustacea) from Antarctic waters

Misophrioid copepods are reported for the first time from Antarctic waters. A species of each of the genera Misophriopsis and Misophriella is describe d from hyperbenthic layers of the continental shelf of the eastern Weddell Sea. The genus Misophrin is also reported from these waters. Misophriopsis australis sp. nov. is the fifth representative of this widely distributed g enus, previously reported from the North Atlantic, the China Sea, and both NW and NE quadrants of the Pacific Ocean. Misophriella schminkei sp. nov. i s the second representative of the genus, known to date only from a single female caught in North Atlantic bathyal depths. Traces of subdivisions on a ntennary exopodal segments of the latter species suggest that the first seg ment may be a triple segment, while the second and terminal segments may be double segments. In addition, the mandibular exopod of this taxon indicate s that a six-segmented ramus with setal formula 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 may repres ent the ground pattern in Copepoda. The presence of parts of a cyclopinid c opepod in the gut of M. schminkei sp. nov. indicates that this species may be carnivorous.