First Report of Mesocyclops parentium Holynska, 1997 (Copepoda : Cyclopidae) from Subterranean Water Source of Kerala, India and a Checklist of such Copepods

Freshwater copepods belong to 3 families out of 112 families under three orders, namely, Calanoida, Cyclopoida and Harpacticoida. Reports on the copepod representatives in subterranean habitats are rare. During the present study, two species of the genus Mesocyclops Sars, 1914 , namely, M. parentium Holynska, 1997 and M. pehpeiensis Hu, 1943 have been reported from well waters which do not have any contact with open water systems from Perumbavoor and Navaikulam. The present paper is the report of these species from subterranean sources of waters and a preliminary checklist of such other species. M. parentium Holynska, 1997 has been re-described also. The two species reported in the present paper show subterranean/groundwater/well water as well as in open water occurrences are biologically interesting.