Pseudocandona Kaufmann, 1900

Higuti, Janet & Martens, Koen, 2014, Five new species of Candoninae (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from the alluvial valley of the Upper Paraná River (Brazil, South America), European Journal of Taxonomy 106, pp. 1-36 : 7-8

Genus Pseudocandona Kaufmann, 1900

Type species

Candona insculpta G.W. Mueller, 1900 (N.B. Candona pubescens Koch, 1837 is an unused senior synonym of this species).

Other congeneric species in South and Central America (Neotropical)

Pseudocandona antilliana Broodbakker, 1983 ; Pseudocandona caribbeana Broodbakker, 1983 ; Pseudocandona cubensis Broodbakker, 1983 ; Pseudocandona geratsi Broodbakker, 1983 ; Pseudocandona annae ( Méhes, 1914) following Broodbakker (1983) and Karanovic & Datry (2009).

Diagnosis

Carapace variously shaped, usually relatively short and stout, rarely elongated or triangular in lateral view. Surface of adults valves smooth or pitted, usually with long, stiff and perpendicularly attached setae. LV overlaps RV. Setal group of the second segment of the mandibular palp with 3 to 5 setae (plus beta-seta). Basal segment of T3 with 3 setae (d1, d2 and dp), medial seta of penultimate segment always missing, terminal segment with one short (h1) and two long setae (h2 and h3). Hemipenis with at least three distal lobes (a, b, h).

Remarks

1. All three new species described here have a group of 4 ventral setae (+ 1 β-seta) on the second segment of the Md-palp. In addition, claws G1 and GM of the A2 (in females) and claws G2, GM and z1 (in males) are long. The combination of these characters places the three new species in the caribbeana– group of the genus according to the scheme of Namiotko & Danielopol (2004). See the general discussion of the present paper for further discussion on this species group.

2. The genus Pseudocandona is speciose, and most species occur in the Palaearctic and the Nearctic, including a large radiation in the ancient Lake Baikal (Siberia). In the differential diagnoses in the present paper we will only compare our new species to those already described from the Neotropical region, although of course their morphology was also checked against the Holarctic species of which good descriptions and illustrations are available.

3. Pseudocandona agostinhoi sp. nov. is described in full, the descriptions of the other two new species in this genus are abbreviated.