Is Copytus Skogsberg, 1939 (Crustacea: Ostracoda) a neocytherideid? With description of a new family and two new species
Author
Coimbra, João Carlos
Author
Bergue, Cristianini Trescastro
Author
Ramos, Maria Inês Feijó
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-01-29
4729
2
177
194
journal article
24222
10.11646/zootaxa.4729.2.2
b44745ed-b90a-4b62-b636-23c48c56471a
1175-5326
3632249
EC42F789-C869-4551-998E-CC819044C775
Copytus baculoides
(
Brady, 1890
)
.
This species, originally described as
Cytherideis baculoides
, was recovered from between tide-marks at Levuka and from 4 fathoms (=
7.31 m
) depth at Sava Sava Bay, Vanua Levu,
Fiji
. Unfortunately, no internal details are given, but the drawings (pl. III, figs. 11–12) clearly suggest a species with a rounded posterior and an angular anterior end with the apex below mid-height; tubular to fusiform in dorsal view.
Teeter (1973
,
1975
) transferred Brady’s species to the genus
Copytus
. In
Teeter (1975)
, which deals with modern shallow marine ostracods from
Belize
(eastern coast of Central America), the author stated the following: “The writer compared the specimens of
Belize
with some of his collection of
Fiji
, the
type
locality of that species, and found them identical”. He attributed this uncommon geographical distribution to ship ballast water because in his study this species occurred only in the “entrance to
Belize
Harbour available to ocean-going vessels”. However, the comparison of the material illustrated by
Teeter (1975
, fig. 6b) with that briefly described and figured by
Brady (1890
, pl. III, figs. 11–12), reveals different species.
Cytherideis baculoides
is much more elongate and larger (l =
0.75 mm
) than Teeter’s specimens (l =
0.48 mm
), and bears a more angulose anteroventral region.
Labutis (1977)
recorded
Copytus
sp.
cf.
baculoides
(Brady)
in his study of the Great Barrier Reef,
Australia
. In our opinion, Brady’s specimens are conspecific with the figured material of Labutis (pl. 11: 14; pl. 23: 1–5) that shows an adont hinge and the characteristic circular cluster of four scars. Brady’s material was
0.75 mm
long, while the Australian specimens were
0.71–0.73 mm
long.
Hartmann (1988b)
discussed the distribution and dispersal of ostracods of the Pacific islands and the surrounding continents of
Australia
and South America, based on data derived of a checklist constructed from a bibliographic review. Thus, based on
Teeter (1975)
, it includes
C. baculoides
among the species distributed along West Atlantic- West Pacific. However, as above discussed,
Teeter (1975)
made a misidentification.