Heteromysis (Heteromysis) cf. odontops Walker, 1898 sensu Tattersall, 1951

Syn. Heteromysis spinosus Holmes, 1900

Material examined. Exuma Islands, Bahamas: Angel fi sh Blue Hole, Stocking Island; 18 July 1998; three females (3.1-3.3 mm) collected with suction bottle approximately 360 m inside the cave at a depth of 29 m. South Andros Island, Bahamas: South Bight #2 Blue Hole, 4 October 1999; three females (3.0 - 3.5 mm), two males (3.0, 3.2 mm) and three juveniles collected with plankton net and suction bottle from surface of silty sediments in 40 m depths. Exley’ s Boiling Hole; 5 October 1999; three females (3.6-3.8 mm) collected with plankton net and suction bottle from water column and surface of silty sediment in 60-70 m depths.

Remarks. This stygophilic species was described by Walker (1898) based on material from Puget Sound. Successively, Holmes (1900) described a very similar species, Heteromysis spinosus, from California; W. M. Tattersall (1951) describing material from West Coast of Panama synonymized the latter with H. odontops, pointing out as well some negligible differences between the two taxa. Later, O. S. Tattersall (1967) transferred H. odontops described by W. M. Tattersall from Panama to a new species, H. panamensis .

Our material from Bahamas is very close to the species odontops Walker, 1898 and Tattersall (1951), differing only by minor characteristics, which could well fi t the wide variability of this species. The lack of su ffi cient number of specimens, especially males, causes us to ascribe provisionally our material to H. odontops .