Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Ostracoda
Order Halocyprida
Family Halocyprididae
Deeveya styrax Kornicker, 1990
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. styrax can be distinguished from other Deeveya species by the
following characteristics:
- The adult carapace is longer than 2.5 mm.
- The anterior margin of the carapace has unbranched bristles.
- The width of distal end of third joint of the first antenna is about
one-forth the length of the dorsal margin of the joint.
- The terminal joint of the fifth limb has four bristles.
- An adult male is known to only exist in D. styrax and
D.
medix of the genus Deeveya. The tips of the anterior branch of
the copulatory organ differ between these two species. D. styrax
has a broad triangular subterminal process, a small pointed sclerotized
hook-like tip, and a long vermiform process near the tip.
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Deeveya
styrax: after Kornicker , 1990
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Disposition of Specimens: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution, catalog numbers USNM 193451-2, 193482, 193485, 193586-9, 193591,
193605.
Ecological Classification: Stygobitic
Size: Adult females' lengths range from 3.00 to 3.13 mm. Adult males'
lengths range from 3.01 to 3.19 mm.
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
- Turks and Caicos Islands:
- Providenciales Island: D. spiralis
Kornicker & Iliffe, 1985
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Deeveya:
genus range |
Species Range: Known only from Dan's Cave, Abaco Island, and Sagittarius
Cave, Sweeting's Cay, Grand Bahama Island, both islands on the Little Bahama
Bank, Bahamas.
Closest Related Species: D. spiralis from Providenciales Island
Habitat: Anchialine limestone caves
Ecology: All specimens were free-swimming in the aphotic zone beneath the
density interface in full marine salinity water (33-35 ppt).
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 caves on the Little Bahama Bank
(Grand Bahama and Abaco).
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.
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Contributor: Louis S. Kornicker, National Museum of Natural History,
Washington, DC
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