Deeveya styrax

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.
		*Deeveya styrax*: after Kornicker , 1990

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

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 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.

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