Gottoniella brescianii Suarez-Morales and Salazar-Vallejo 2025, sp. n.

Gottoniella brescianii Suárez-Morales and Salazar-Vallejo sp. n. (Figure 13–15) Material examined Holotype. ovigerous female from Eunoe corbariae (MNHN IA 2017–3996), Papua New Guinea. Expedition Papua Niugini, E Kotakot, RV Alis, Sta. CP 4039 (04°18 ʹ 54.5976” S, 145° 37 ʹ 07.9716” E), 1000–1045 m, in sponges, 17 December 2017, S. Samadi, leg. Type locality Papua New Guinea. Kotakot, RV Alis, Sta. CP4039 (04°18 ʹ 54.5976” S, 145° 37 ʹ 07.9716” E), depth = 1000–1045 m. Etymology The species name honours the memory of Dr José Bresciani (1926–2006), an eminent zoologist at the University of Copenhagen, for his longstanding work on the anatomy and morphology of highly transformed parasitic Copepoda (Dahms 2007). Diagnosis Gottoniella female with ectosoma laterally expanded; posterior part of ectosoma strongly protuberant, with 2 large lateral lobes and 1 medial lobe, lateral lobes carrying heavily sclerotised genital swellings; genital openings slit-like, transverse. Distal part of medial lobe with sclerotised ring and pipe-like stalk, in the underside of ectosoma (Endosoma unknown). Description of adult female holotype Ectosoma up to 1.75 mm in maximum length, 1.22 mm in width, laterally expanded; anterior margin slightly concave, posterior side adjacent to genital swellings strongly protuberant, with 3 rounded lobiform projections, 1 short medial, 2 large lateral ones; latter lobes carrying heavily sclerotised genital swellings. Ectosoma asymmetrical, with right side exhibiting large, curved fin-like process (Figure 13 (A–D), flp, 14C, 15I), opposite end conical; height of fin-like process from lateral margin = 0.280 mm; integumental surface of ectosoma smooth. Endosoma recovered in part; proximal section of endosoma with short, sclerotised ring (Figure 13 (C,D), sr) connected to short pipe-like stalk arising underside from posterior end of ectosoma (Figure 13 (C,D), stk). Genital swellings (Figure 13 (B), gs) oblong, heavily sclerotised, with slit-like transverse genital apertures (Figures 13 (C), 14(C), ga). Ventral surface with large globose protuberance with screw plug-like terminal process (Figure 13 (D), vp). One egg sac present on attached holotype (Figure 14 (B)) sac empty, damaged, detached from body, with scattered remains of eggs. Remarks The genus Gottoniella was originally proposed for female specimens collected from Antarctic waters (374–378 m deep) parasitising a species of Harmothoe and an unidentified polynoid (López-González et al. 2006). The genus contains two species, G. antarctica López-González, Bresciani and Conradi, 2006, which is the type species, and G. andeepi López-González, Bresciani and Conradi, 2006. Gottoniella andeepi was found as a parasite of an unidentified species of Harmothoe at a depth of 2895 m in the Scotia Sea, Antarctica. The new species, G. brescianii, can be easily distinguished from its only two congeneric species by its possession of a fin-like curved process on one side of the ectosoma, thus diverging from the symmetrical, rounded lateral ectosomal edges present in G. antarctica (López-González et al. 2006; Figure 9 (A,B)), or the bilateral globose ectosoma of G. andeepi (López-González et al. 2006; Figure 14 (A,B)).