Abstract
Five new species in four new genera from Western Australia are described. All species have valve characters that are reminiscent of the genus Heterocypris Claus, 1892 and also have similar valve outlines, with highly arched valves. However, all species have a hemipenis morphology that is totally different from the typical form in Heterocypris. In Patcypris gen. nov. (with type species P. outback gen. et sp. nov.), the lateral lobe is large and shaped as a pickaxe, while the medial lobe is divided into two distal lobes. Trilocypris gen. nov. (with type species T. horwitzi gen. et sp. nov.) is characterised by a hemipenis that has three, instead of two, distal lobes. In Bilocypris gen. nov. (with type species B. fortescuensis gen. et sp. nov. and a second species, B. mandoraensis gen. et sp. nov.), the lateral lobe of the hemipenis is spatulate, rather than boot-shaped, and the medial lobe is bilobed. Billcypris gen. nov. (with type species B. davisae gen. et sp. nov.) has a large and sub-rectangular lateral lobe and a pointed medial lobe. We discuss the taxonomic value of the traditional and new morphological characters and speculate that the diversity of this cluster of genera and species may be greater than currently known.
Highlights
Ostracods are mostly small crustaceans with a body that is mostly fully enveloped by two calcified valves
A case in point is the recent revision of the genus Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 in Western Australia; before the revision two described species of Bennelongia were known from this state, but a further 22 species have been described, with several species awaiting description and still others probably awaiting discovery (Martens et al 2012, 2013, 2015; Shearn et al 2012)
The type material of the five new species is deposited in two different locations, namely in the Western Australian Museum, Perth, Australia (WAM) and, with the permission of WAM, in the Invertebrate Collection of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Brussels, Belgium (RBINS INV numbers)
Summary
Ostracods are mostly small (ca 1 mm) crustaceans with a body that is mostly fully enveloped by two calcified valves. They are abundant in most aquatic habitats, both marine and non-marine. There are presently 2331 subjective species of non-marine ostracods in 270 genera (Meisch et al 2019). Countless ostracod species remain to be described, and Australian aquatic inland habitats are among the notable hotspots for such undocumented diversity (Halse 2002; Halse & McRae 2004; Martens et al. European Journal of Taxonomy 493: 1–35 (2019). A case in point is the recent revision of the genus Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 in Western Australia; before the revision two described species of Bennelongia were known from this state, but a further 22 species have been described, with several species awaiting description and still others probably awaiting discovery (Martens et al 2012, 2013, 2015; Shearn et al 2012)
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