Echinoderes sylviae n. sp. (Kinorhyncha, Cyclorhagida), from the Gulf of Mexico, with comparative notes on a similar species Echinoderes spinifurca

Taxonomic studies of kinorhynchs from the Gulf of Mexico have been ongoing in our laboratories for years, with specimens collected from 2007 to 2015 on NOAA ships Gordon Gunter, Pisces, and Oregon II. Numerous new species have been described from this research effort, including five species in the genus Echinoderes, and one species in each of the genera Paracentrophyes, Semnoderes, and Sphenoderes. We now describe Echinoderes sylviae n. sp. from the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf, and provide comparative notes on a similar common species Echinoderes spinifurca Sorensen et al., 2005, known from the Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the Atlantic coast of Florida.