Cymbasoma californiense, a new monstrilloid (Crustacea: Copepoda: Monstrilloida) from Baja California, Mexico

Cymbasoma californiense is described from three adult females collected during three cruises carried out in an area adjacent to Bahia Magdalena, a large coastal system on the southwest coast of the Baja California Peninsula, and in the southern Gulf of California. The new species is very closely related to at least three other Cymbasoma (C. longispinosum (Bourne) and its allies), but can be distinguished by a combination of features including: the presence of cuticular striations on the forehead, cephalothorax, and genital somite; relatively long antennules; the structure of the fifth legs, and the relative length of the ovigerous spines. Cymbasoma californiense is the first species of this genus recorded in the Californian region and the Eastern Tropical Pacific.