Deeveya exleyi

Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Ostracoda
Order Halocyprida
Family Halocyprididae

Deeveya exleyi Kornicker & Iliffe, 1998

Taxonomic Characterization: The carapace is oval in the lateral view, except for a straight dorsal margin and a slightly concave anterior margin. The right valve has a small tubercle on the dorsal margin near the posterior end. D. exleyi can be distinguished from other Deeveya species by the following characteristics:

The adult carapace's length is between 1.75 and 2.2 mm. When the carapace is viewed with transmitted light, there are disks at intersections of the reticule that are wider than the walls of reticulations. The width of distal end of the third joint of the first antenna is twenty-six percent the length of dorsal margin of joint. The first endopodial joint of mandible has six medial bristles.
		*Deeveya exleyi*

Disposition of Specimen: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, catalog number USNM 194269.

Ecological Classification: Stygobitic

Size: Adult female holotype is 1.83 mm long without processes.

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

Genus Range:

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 Caicos Islands: Providenciales Island: D. spiralis Kornicker & Iliffe, 1985
		*Deeveya*: genus range

Species Range: Known only from Oven Rock Cave, Great Guana Cay, Exuma Cays, Great Bahama Bank, Bahamas

Closest Related Species: D. medix from Grand Bahama Island

Habitat: Anchialine limestone caves

Ecology: Only the holotype has been collected. It was free-swimming, at a depth of 0-1 m and at a salinity of 35 g/l.

Life History: The specimen contained nine unextruded eggs on the left side of the body.

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 a single cave (only the single female holotype has been collected).

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.S. 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