Three benthonic Harpacticoida (Crustacea) new to science were collected in the São Sebastião Channel region (SE Coast of Brazil): Rhizotrix virginiae n.sp. (Rhizotrichidae), Galapalaophonte alvaroi n. sp. (Laophontidae) and Laophontisochra terueae n.sp. (Nannopodidae). Though similar to described species from the NW Atlantic benthos, the Caribbean region and the Patagonian continental slope, they differ in details, such as number of leg segments and/or setae, ornaments, etc. and are here described for the first time.
Harpacticoid copepods; marine benthos; SE coastal Brazilian littoral