Gelyella is a genusoffreshwatercopepods.[4] They live in groundwaterinkarstic areas of southern France and western Switzerland. The two species are the only members of the family Gelyellidae and, although previously placed in the order Harpacticoida, a new order, Gelyelloida, was erected for this family alone.[5]
Gelyella shows some paedomorphosis, in which animals reach sexual maturity while still partly resembling juveniles.[4] The adults are 300–400 micrometres (0.012–0.016 in) long with a nearly cylindrical body that tapers towards the rear.[5] There are eleven body segments, the last of which is the length of the previous two segments combined.[6]
The Gorges de l'Areuse, where Gelyella monardi was discovered
The first species of Gelyella was described in 1977 from material collected at Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, Hérault, France and given the name Gelyella droguei.[5]
A second species was later collected from the Gorges de l'Areuse in the Swiss Jura,[5] and named Gelyella monardi to mark the centenary of the birth of the Swiss naturalist Albert Monard.[6]
^ abDiana M. P. Galassi (2001). "Groundwater copepods: diversity patterns over ecological and evolutionary scales". In R. M. Lopes, J. W. Reid & C. E. F. Rocha (ed.). Copepoda: Developments in Ecology, Biology and Systematics. Hydrobiologia453/454. pp. 227–253. doi:10.1023/A:1013100924948.
^ abcdRony Huys (1988). "Gelyelloida, a new order of stygobiont copepods from European karstic systems". In G. A. Boxshall & H. K. Schminke (ed.). Biology of Copepods. Hydrobiologia167/168. pp. 485–495. doi:10.1007/BF00026343.
^ abcPascal Moeschler & Raymond Rouch (1988). "Découverte d'un nouveau représentant de la famille des Gelyellidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) dans les eaux souterraines de Suisse". Crustaceana. 55 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1163/156854088X00203. JSTOR20104370.