Leptodiaptomus Light, 1938

Elías-Gutiérrez, Manuel, Jerónimo, Fernando Martínez, Ivanova, Natalia V., Valdez-Moreno, Martha & Hebert, Paul D. N., 2008, DNA barcodes for Cladocera and Copepoda from Mexico and Guatemala, highlights and new discoveries, Zootaxa 1839 (1), pp. 1-42 : 14

Genus Leptodiaptomus Light, 1938

Barcode analysis revealed that Leptodiaptomus novamexicanus (Herrick) was a group of species, reinforcing earlier conclusions based on morphology. Osorio-Tafall (1942) was the first to make this suggestion, describing Leptodiaptomus garciai from the unique saline Alchichica Crater Lake. Our barcoding results, together with data on ecophysiology, morphology and breeding studies (Montiel et al, 2008) support recognition of this species as a valid taxon, in opposition to the synonymy proposed by Wilson (1959). Moreover, in the State of Mexico, we found two related, but definitely different forms of L. novamexicanus . Again it is necessary to compare specimens from the type locality (a reservoir in Albuquerque, New Mexico) with those found in the central plateau of Mexico.