Abstract
A survey of more than 60 ephemeral pools during March 1989 resulted in finding three large branchiopods not previously known to occur on the Caribbean Island of Aruba. These were two Anostraca, Dendrocephalus spartaenovae Margalef, 1967 and Thamnocephalus venezuelensis Belk & Pereira, 1982, and one Spinicaudata, Leptestheria venezuelica Daday, 1923. The notostracan previously reported from Aruba, Triops longicaudatus (LeConte, 1846), was also collected from several pools. All of these species occur also in Venezuela, which is separated from Aruba by an ocean gap of about 25 km. Comparison of Leptestheria venezuelica with Leptestheria compleximanus (Packard, 1877) demonstrated that cephalic morphology provides useful taxonomic features including length of rostrum, depth of occipital notch, shape of the occipital region, and protrusion of the eye capsule. These features may prove useful in studying other species of Leptestheria.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belk, D.& G. Pereira, 1982 Thamnocephalus venezuelensis, new species (Anostraca: Thamnocephalidae), first report of Thamnocephalus in South America J. Crust Biol. 2: 223–226.
Daday, E., 1923 Monographie Systématique des Plyllopodes Conchostracés Ann. Sc. Nat. Zool sér. 10, 6: 331–457.
Linder, F., 1960 Notostraca from the Netherlands Antilles with notes on the segmentation of the group Stud Fauna. Curaçao carib Is 10: 18–32.
Margalef, R., 1961 La vida en los charcos de agua dulce de Nueva Esparta (Venezuela) Mem. Soc. Cienc. Nat. LaSalle. 21: 75–110.
Pereira, G., 1983 Taxonomic importance of the frontal appendage in the genus Dendrocephalus (Anostraca: Thamnocephalidae). J. Crust Biol. 3: 293–305.
Pereira, G., & J. V. García, 2001 A review of the clam shrimp family Limnadiidae (Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Conchostraca) from Venezuela with the description of a new species. J. Crust Biol. 21: 640–652.
Pereira, G. & M. E. de Pereira, 1980 Contribución al conocimiento de Anostraca y Notostraca de Venezuela (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) con una clave para su identificación. Cong. Lati. Amer. Zool. 8: 529–533.
Petrov, B. & M., Marincek, 1995 Age-influenced morphological changes in Leptestheria saetosa Marincek et Petrov, 1992 (Conchostraca, Crustacea) Hydrobiologia 298: 245–252.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Belk, D., Belk, M.S. & Reading, K. Survey of large branchiopods on Aruba and observations on taxonomic characters in Leptestheria (Spinicaudata). Hydrobiologia 486, 115–118 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021386315348
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021386315348