A New Species of the Genus Halectinosoma Vervoort, 1962 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Ectinosomatidae) from the East Coast of Korea, with a Key to Species of the Curticorne-Group

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Review of the manuscript

Bang HW. A new species of the genus Halectinosoma Vervoort, 1962 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Ectinosomatidae) from the east coast of Korea, with a key to species of the curticorne-group

H.W. Bang provides the description of a new species of Halectinosoma (Ectinosomatidae), collected from the east coast of Korea. Moreover, the author provides a summarizing revision and discussion on the genus Halectinosoma and its included two sub-groups, the H. sarsi-, and the H. curticorne-group. In addition the author gives an identification key of the species of the Halectinosoma curticorne-group.

This is a quite interesting and important contribution that reveals help- and useful information with respect to systematic insights into the family Ectinosomatidae and, particularly, into the genus Ectinosoma.

The manuscript is absolutely worth of being published in Taxonomy, as I am concerned. The text is well-written, concise and understandable. Title and sections (Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion) are adequate. The species description is excellent, with the illustrations fulfilling absolutely current standards. In figures 3C and 5B, the author adds arrows pointing to particular morphological features. It would be helpful explaining that briefly in the respective figure legends.

The discussion is detailed but appropriate; the author provides well-founded arguments and clearly demonstrates his/her expertise in the field.

Although being no English native speaker, I stumbled across single formulations and a comparatively high number of slips of the pen. Thus, I felt free to mark respective parts in the uploaded draft. With respect to the enumeration (writing out numerals between 1 and 10 but use of Arabic numbers if >10) and the use of hyphens/n-dashes I noted a certain inconsistency; the author should check carefully the authors’ guidelines and correct where necessary.

The reference list is adequate and complete as I am concerned (it was somewhat difficult for me checking the citations, as they are cited by numbers instead of direct reference citation).

I recommend publication of the manuscript after minor revision.

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

First of all, thank you for reviewing my paper. I revised most of your points as suggested. I have attached the details in the revision note.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 2 Report

Author described a new Harpacticoida species Halectinosoma munmui sp. n. and provided the valuable information about Harpacticoida group from the Korea cost, where this group is weakly recognized. Author provided sufficient information in the abstract, key words, introduction, methods, results, and discussion. All cited papers are necessary and exhausting for a new species description. The new species description and drawing are comprehensive and excellent, agree with the modern taxonomy trends. Including the key to species of this group makes this paper very valuable.

Author Response

First of all, thank you for reviewing my paper. I correct the typos and revised some of the contents in the text. Thank you again for your decision.