The rediscovery ofDanielssenia intermediaWells 1965 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida): a missing link between the ‘danielsseniid’ genera andParanannopusLang 1936 (Paranannopidae)

Danielssenia intermedia Wells 1965, originally described from a single male specimen from the Fladen ground in the North Sea, is redescribed on the basis of new material of both sexes from off Cullercoats, also in the North Sea. Although D, intermedia has many similarities to the genera Danielssenia Boeck and Psammis Sars, it must be placed in a new genus Fladenia based on distinctive features of the female antennule, the mandible, maxilliped, first and fifth legs and the sexual dimorphism of both rami of legs 2–4. The characteristics of Fladenia are such that it serves to link the other genera of the danielsseniid complex with Paranannopus Lang. The proposal that all these genera should be placed in the family Paranannopidae Por is reinforced by close similarities in the structure of the female genital field.