Abstract
Austromesocypris bluffensis sp. n. is described and we report another species, Austromesocypris sp., both collected from subterranean aquatic habitats in Tasmania. This discovery adds a major taxonomic group to the already diverse invertebrate cave fauna of Tasmania, and is of interest because, globally, obligate subterranean aquatic species (stygobites) are poorly represented within the family Cyprididae. The genus Austromesocypris Martens, De Deckker & Rossetti, 2004 is otherwise known to comprise entirely “terrestrial or semi-terrestrial” species. The second species is not described because only juvenile specimens were collected. Both species stand apart from their congeners by the carapace shape, which is rectangular in Austromesocypris bluffensis and triangular and asymmetrical in the unnamed species. Another unique feature of the new species is the almost symmetrical uropodal rami. We also identify some broader systematic issues within the Scottiinae including the position of two New Zealand species, Scottia audax (Chapman, 1961) and Scottia insularis Chapman, 1963 in the genus, and point out their closer relationship to the Gondwana genera of Scottiinae, Austromesocypris and Mesocypris Daday, 1910, than to the Palearctic genus Scottia Brady & Norman, 1889, based on the morphology of the maxillula and mandibula. The identity of the Australian records of Scottia audax (Chapman, 1961), Austromesocypris australiensis (De Deckker, 1983) and the Boreal records of Scottia pseudobrowniana Kempf, 1971 are all considered doubtful. A key to the world species of Scottiinae is provided.
Highlights
Twelve freshwater podocopid ostracods belonging to the superfamily Cypridoidea and family Cyprididae are known from Tasmania (Table 1)
Ecology No Ostracoda have previously been described from Tasmanian caves or other groundwater environments
The absence of Candoninae in Tasmanian caves may be an artefact of poor sampling effort, but it is possible that this group is substituted here by Austromesocypris Martens, De Deckker & Rossetti, 2004 species that have occupied a new habitat through the lack of competition with Candoninae, the dominant subterranean ostracod group elsewhere in the world (Karanovic 2007)
Summary
Twelve freshwater podocopid ostracods belonging to the superfamily Cypridoidea and family Cyprididae are known from Tasmania (Table 1). This study discovered that the Precipitous Bluff karst supported the richest assemblage of locally endemic and obligate cave-dwelling species in Tasmania (Eberhard 1996). The initial survey by Eberhard et al (1991) focused on collecting macroinvertebrates, but Ponder et al (2005) concluded that additional sampling, especially targeted towards aquatic micro- and meiofauna, was likely to further increase the richness of subterranean species known from the Precipitous Bluff karst. This possibility provided the impetus for the current study. The nets were left in the cave for two days and recovered, where after the net contents were elutriated and preserved in 100% ethanol
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