RESUMO
Description and morphological analysis of copepods inhabiting a water body with high arsenic concentrations (32.79 to 62.29 mg L-1) were performed to identify some effect on the development of individuals due to the arsenic concentrations. Detailed morphology of prosomal and urosomal appendages along the development of the specimens was considered. The results showed that the freshwater copepod Paracyclops novenarius Reid, 1987 inhabits this water body, and previously, it was recorded as Paracyclops chiltoni (Thomson GM, 1882) on this site. Moreover, this becomes the first record of P. novenarius in Mexico. Morphological analysis showed a normal and stable development along the different instars, different arsenic concentrations in the media, and different sampled dates between the analyzed specimens, suggesting that the high arsenic concentrations do not affect the morphology of P. novenarius, including all its development and adult instars, which differs from other copepods and other groups such as Cladocera and Rotifera, where morphological changes due to metals and metalloids have been observed but in low concentrations of these elements. The results of this study contribute to the existing reports of the genus Paracyclops (Claus 1893) in Mexico and could provide information for environmental impact assessments on aquatic systems.
