Taxonomy of Cypricercus

Cypricercus presently comprises 22 nominal species. These were reexamined here based on (type) materials and on literature descriptions and nine species were retained in Cypricercus s.s. (Table 2). All other species belong to other genera or have an unknown status. Cypricercus mongolicus Daday (1909) is here transferred to the genus Eucypris (Table 3), relying mainly on the morphology of caudal ramus and hemipenis.

Cypricercus salinus De Deckker, 1981 was described from a saline lake (salinity range 0.34-12.3 ppt) in Victoria, Australia. The Triebel’s loop of C. salinus is equivocally presented in the illustration, maybe because it was not well developed. Indeed, De Deckker (1981) reported that an almost closed eyelet was encountered on dorsal branch. To clarify this enigmatic character, the type material should be reexamined. Based on the position of the Triebel’s loop in dorsal branch, we here allocate C. salinus to Bradleystrandesia (Table 3). In addition, this species also shares some other characters of genus Bradleystrandesia . Firstly, the distal seta of the caudal ramus is short (considerably shorter than half of the proximal claw). Secondly, the proximal seta is short (somewhat less than the end of the ramus) and its position is comparatively lower than the proximal claw. Thirdly, whereas the insertions of proximal and distal claws in Bradleystrandesia are slightly apart from each other, in other Cypricercinae these insertions are relatively close to each other.

Species Distribution Cypricercus ariariensis (Roessler, 1986) South America Cypricercus centrurus (Klie, 1940) South Africa Cypricercus cuneatus Sars, 1895 South Africa Cypricercus episphaenus G.W. Müller, 1908 South Africa Cypricercus inermis (Brady, 1904) South Africa Cypricercus maculatus G.W. Müller, 1908 South Africa Cypricercus unicornis De Deckker, 1981 Australia

Cypricercus variabilis (Roessler, 1986) South America Cypricercus xhosa sp. nov. South Africa Eucypris mongolica (Daday, 1909)

Bradleystrandesia salina (De Deckker, 1981) Cypricercus acanthigera (G.W. Müller, 1912) Syn.: Neocypris mucronata Sars, 1901 (senior syn) Syn.: Cypricercus episphaenus sensu Tressler, 1949

Cypricercus adustus (Koch, 1837)

Cypricercus burlingtonensis (Turner, 1894)

Cypricercus cheboyganensis Ferguson, 1957

Cypricercus elegans (Roessler, 1986)

Cypricercus indrani Deb, 1983

Cypricercus munshii Deb & Nasar, 1977

Cypricercus rotundus Tressler, 1950

Cypricercus sanguineus Chapman, 1963

Cypricercus setosus Farkas, 1957

Cypricercus testudinarius (Sharpe, 1897)

Cypricercus vietsi Farkas, 1957

De Deckker (1981) also described Cypricercus unicornis from Newmann’s Rocks in West Australia. His drawing and description illustrated that there is a Triebel’s loop in the dorsal branch. However, this Triebel’s loop seems to be incorrect in shape and position. It is therefore possible that the attachment of the caudal ramus was broken during dissection, resulting in a translocation of Triebel’s loop from main branch to dorsal branch. Additionally, we found that the shape of the caudal ramus and the valve morphology in this species are more conform to Cypricercus than to Bradleystrandesia . We thus maintain this species in Cypricercus .

We here redescribe Cypricercus inermis (Brady, 1904) and found that the characters of this species, e.g. the divided α-seta on Md-palp, the absence of the channel in the fused zone of LV, elongated carapace and the morphology of Zenker’s organ, are congruent to those of Cypricercus . Martens (2001) considered Cypricercus inermis, previously in Tanycypris, to be a synonym of Cypricercus cuneatus . The present study reveals that C. inermis is not identical to C. cuneatus and differs by the following characters: (1) the lateral shield of the hemipenis in C. inermis is elongated, subtriangular and its distal end is beak-like; in C. cuneatus this shield is subquadrate with bluntly pointed distal end; (2) the Zenker’s organ of C. inermis is slightly longer (length c. 3.5 times the width) and set with approx. 22 spiny whorls, whereas in C. cuneatus this organ is shorter (length c. 3 times the width) and is composed of 20 spiny whorls; (3) the chaetotaxy of the soft parts is also different between both species, for example, in the length of the dorsal subapical seta on the first segment of the A1, the size and shape of the Rome organ, the ventral apical seta on the fifth A1-segment and the morphology of caudal ramus and attachment: in C. inermis the ventral margin of the caudal ramus is composed of 4 groups of fine spines and the ventral branch of the attachment is stout and short, while in C. cuneatus the ventral margin of the caudal ramus is continuously finely serrated and the ventral branch of the attachment is slim and somewhat longer; (4) the carapace of C. inermis is narrower in lateral view, and C. inermis has the posterior margin of the RV slightly more produced than that of C. cuneatus, resulting in a relatively unequal posterior end, as can be clearly seen in dorsal view; (5) the number of inner lists along the anterior part of the LV is different between C. inermis and C. cuneatus, 1 inner list in the former, 2 inner lists in the latter. Therefore, C. inermis is here reinstated as a valid species.

Species Distribution Strandesia bicornuta Hartmann, 1964 Asia

Strandesia bicuspis bicuspis (Claus, 1892) South America Strandesia bicuspis mucronata (Claus, 1892) South America Strandesia botosaneanui Broodbakker, 1983 West Indies Strandesia carteri Klie, 1930 South America Strandesia cyprinotoides Klie, 1938 Africa

Strandesia dorsolonga Rome, 1962 Africa

Strandesia evae Gauthier, 1951 Africa

Strandesia ewaldi (Roessler, 1990) South America Strandesia gopinathani George & Martens, 1993 Asia

Strandesia hancocki (Lowndes, 1931) Africa

Strandesia hartmanni Victor & Fernando, 1981 Asia

Strandesia indica Hartmann, 1964 Asia

Strandesia inornata (Sars, 1901) South America Strandesia kimberleyi Karanovic, 2005 Australia Strandesia labiata Hartmann, 1964 Asia

Strandesia longula Broodbakker, 1983 West Indies Strandesia mercatorum (Vavra, 1895) Africa

Strandesia odiosa (Moniez, 1892) Asia

Strandesia perakensis Victor & Fernando, 1981 Asia

Strandesia pistrix Broodbakker, 1983 West Indies Strandesia psittacea psittacea (Sars, 1901) South America Strandesia psittacea colombiensis Roessler, 1990 South America Strandesia sphaeroidea Broodbakker, 1983 West Indies Strandesia stocki Broodbakker, 1983 West Indies Strandesia strandesioides (G.W.Müller, 1898) Africa

Strandesia trichosa Roessler, 1990 South America Strandesia unicolor Klie, 1944 Africa

Strandesia variegata (Sars, 1901) South America Strandesia vavrai vavrai (G.W.Müller, 1898) Africa

Strandesia vavrai persica Bronshtein, 1925 Asia