Deeveya bransoni

Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Ostracoda
Order Halocyprida
Family Halocyprididae

Deeveya bransoni Kornicker & Palmer, 1987

Taxonomic Characterization: Carapace: when viewed with transmitted light appearing reticulate (reticulations appearing bright); minute rounded processes present on outer surface of walls of reticulations (Kornicker & Palmer, 1987; Kornicker, Yager & Williams, 1990).

Disposition of Specimens: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, catalog numbers USNM 193301-2.

Ecological Classification: Stygobitic

Size: Adult female ranges from 1.21-1.68 mm in length.

Number of Species in Genus: Seven, all from anchialine caves

Bahamas: Abaco Island: D. styrax Kornicker, 1990 and D. hirpex Kornicker, 1990 Eleuthera Island: D. jillae Kornicker & Iliffe, 1989 Exuma Cays: D. exleyi Kornicker & Iliffe, 1998 Grand Bahama Island: D. styrax Kornicker, 1990 and D. medix Kornicker, 1990 South Andros Island: D. bransoni Kornicker & Palmer, 1987 Turks and Caicos Islands: Providenciales Island: D. spiralis Kornicker & Iliffe, 1985
		*Deeveya*: genus range

Species Range: Known only from Evelyn Green's Blue Hole and Stargate Blue Hole, South Andros Island, Bahamas.

Habitat: Anchialine limestone caves

Ecology: Found free-swimming in clear water with salinities in excess of 18 ppt. Specimens were collected just below the mixing zone between brackish and saline waters at depths of 22-30 m.

Life History: Only one adult female with a well-developed genital tube on its left side and an A-1 female have been collected (Kornicker & Palmer, 1987; Kornicker, Yager & Williams, 1990).

Evolutionary Origins: The evolutionary origins of troglobitic ostracodes remain undetermined. They may have originated from the deep sea (Iliffe 1990:95; 1991:227-228) or from shallow water crevices (Danielopol, 1990:141; Danielopol et al., 1996:82). These ostracodes may have been in shallow anchialine pools and then migrated to the more stable cave environment (Iliffe in Kornicker & Iliffe, 1998:2). The genera Deeveya Kornicker & Iliffe, 1985 and Spelaeoecia Angel & Iliffe, 1987 comprise the subfamily Deeveyinae Kornicker & Iliffe, 1985. The distribution of this subfamily is restricted to the Caribbean, West Indies, Bermuda, and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Conservation Status: Restricted to two inland, fault line blue holes on South Andros.

References:

Danielopol, D.L. 1990. The origin of the anchialine cave fauna - the "deep sea" versus the "shallow water" hypothesis tested against the empirical evidence of the Thaumatocyprididae (Ostracoda). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, 60(3/4):137-143, figure 1.
Danielopol, D.L., A. Baltanas, and G. Bonaduce. 1996. The darkness syndrome in subsurface-shallow and deep-sea dwelling Ostracoda (Crustacea). In: F. Uiblein, J. Ott and M. Stachowitsch, editors, Deep-Sea and Extreme Shallow-Water Habitats: Affinities and Adaptations. Biosystematics and Ecology Series, 11:123-144. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Iliffe, T.M. 1990. Crevicular dispersal of marine cave faunas. Memoires de Biospeologie, 17:93-96.
Iliffe, T.M. 1991. Anchialine fauna of the Galapagos Islands. In: M.J. James, editor, Galapagos Marine Invertebrates. Pages 209-231. New York: Plenum Press.
Kornicker, L.S. and T.M. Iliffe. 1985. Deeveyinae, a new subfamily of Ostracoda (Halocypridiae) from a marine cave on the Turks and Caicos Islands. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 98(2):476-493, 13 figures.
Kornicker, L. S. and T. M. Iliffe. 1989. New Ostracoda (Halocyprida: Thaumatocyprididae and Halocyprididae) from anchialine caves in the Bahamas, Palau and Mexico. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 470:1-47, 22 figures, 8 tables.
Kornicker, L.S. and T.M. Iliffe. 1998. Myodocopid Ostracoda (Halocypridina, Cladocopina) from anchialine caves in the Bahamas, Canary Islands, and Mexico. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 599:1-93, 62 figures, 2 maps, 9 tables.
Kornicker, L. and R. J. Palmer. 1987. Deeveya bransoni, a new species of troglobitic halocyprid ostracode from anchialine caves on South Andros Island, Bahamas (Crustacea: Ostracoda). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 100:610-623, 6 figures, 1 table.
Kornicker, L.S., J. Yager, and D. Williams. 1990. Ostracoda (Halocyprididae) from anchialine caves in the Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 495:1-51, 30 figures, 4 tables.

Contributor: Louis S. Kornicker, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC