Redescription of Dendrocephalus affinis (Anostraca: Thamnocephalidae): first record of the species from Colombia and additional morphological observations useful in taxonomy

Abstract

The finding of a fairy shrimp population belonging to the genus Dendrocephalus in a temporary pond from the La Guajira Department of Colombia promoted the interest in evaluating this resource for its potential use for aquaculture purposes. In the present paper the population was allocated to Dendrocephalus affinis Pereira, 1984, only known so far from the type locality in Venezuela. The species was redescribed, providing new morphological observations on the male, useful in taxonomy. In addition, two characters on the female, not mentioned up to now in the genus, the presence of a baso-lateral short process with a spine in the endopod of the first thoracopod, and the presence of one square cell among all the pentagonal ones in the polyhedral resting egg, could help in the specific identification of dendrocephalid samples without males. The present is the first record of the species from Colombia.