FIRST RECORD OF SUPERORNATIREMIDAE (COPEPODA, HARPACTICOIDA) FROM MEDITERRANEAN WATERS, WITH DESCRIPTION OF 3 NEW SPECIES FROM BALEARIC ANCHIHALINE CAVES

Three new representatives of the harpacticoid family Superornatiremida e are described from the flooded coastal karst of the Balearic Islands . The monotypic genera Superornatiremis and Intercrusia, restricted th us far to Bermudian anchihaline caves, are represented each by an isol ated vicariant in similar environments on Mallorca, viz.: S. mendai an d I. garciai. The amphi-Atlantic pattern displayed by Neoechinophora, with 3 species known from Bermudian caves and another one in a sea-flo oded lava tube in Lanzarote (Canary Islands), is expanded to include a lso the Mediterranean region upon the discovery of N. xoni in Mallorca . The distribution range of the family now fits the amphi-Atlantic/Med iterranean track displayed by many stygobiont malacostracans, generall y interpreted as Tethyan in origin. The trilobate condition of the pro ximal syncoxal endite of the maxilla of Intercrusia is confirmed.