On a remarkable South African giant ostracod (Crustacea, Ostracoda, Cyprididae) from temporary pools, with additional appendages

Abstract

Liocypris grandis, a Red Data List species, presumed extinct, has been found for the first time since its original description in 1924 in the Western Cape Province in South Africa, in an area about 200 km NE from its type locality. The species is redescribed. Apart from the seven paired appendages, normal for the Podocopida, five additional paired appendages also occur. As these structures do not occur in the (A-1) female juvenile stage, the significance of these structures is deemed to be reproductive. Owing to this association with the (female) genital organs, these structures are here termed R1–R5. Their putative homology is discussed; it is deduced that, contrary to earlier claims, the (female) genital organs in ostracods might be homologous to more than one (thoracic) limb, in this case 3–5 limbs and segments. The structures are either non-functional relicts, or are functional with regard to brood care or mating behaviour. The phylogenetic signal delivered by the presence of these structures is highly obscure; they could be from most ancestral to highly derived, even independent of the phylogenetic position of Liocypris itself. The presence of these R-appendages, together with some other features, provokes the erection of Liocypridinae subfam.n. within the family Cyprididae.