Bulbocythere, Coimbra, João Carlos & De Morais, Anderson L. M., 2016

Coimbra, João Carlos & De Morais, Anderson L. M., 2016, On a new marine podocopid genus and species (Ostracoda: Hemicytheridae) from Brazil, Zootaxa 4193 (1), pp. 167-176 : 170

Genus Bulbocythere gen. nov.

Type species. Bulbocythere calida sp. nov., by monotypy.

Diagnosis. A hemicytherid, subrectangular in lateral view with a delicate posteroventral caudal process. Eye spot pronounced. Anterior margin with an anterodorsal flange in LV. Surface ornamented with tubercles, mostly of them slightly aligned in rows. Hinge holamphidont with median element smooth and the posterior one bilobate. Central muscle scars an oblique row of four adductors, the middle two subdivided; two frontal scars. Inner margin with a delicate anterior vestibule. Radial pore canals straight, simple and numerous.

Remarks. The genus Ruggiericythere Aiello, Coimbra & Barra, 2004 , a South American ostracode with a preference for temperate and cool waters, shows some similarity with Bulbocythere gen. nov. However, Ruggiericythere has a surface dominated by prominent ribs, which are primarily longitudinally disposed, and by intercostal coarse reticulation. Internally, Ruggiericythere shows three frontal muscle scars and line of concrescence coincident with the inner margin along the entire duplicature ( Fig. 2 ).

Echinocythereis Puri, 1953 somewhat resembles Bulbocythere gen. nov. externally. However, the former shows an ornamentation constituted mostly by small spines, which are sometimes superimposed on a secondary reticulate ornamentation. In addition, Echinocythereis has the two median adductor muscle scars undivided, a line of concrescence coincident with the inner margin, and a hinge with the posterior element not bilobate ( Fig. 2 ).

A superficial similarity between Bulbocythere gen. nov. and the monospecific hemicytherid genus Mimicocythere Titterton & Whatley, 2008 from the Solomon Islands, North Pacific Ocean , cannot be confirmed after in-depth comparison. Bulbocythere gen. nov. has an antimerodont hinge, line of concrescence and the inner margin coincident, and only the upper median adductor scar subdivided. Mimicocythere is inflated posteroventrally and possesses a spinose surface superimposed on the muri of a gentle reticulation.

Etymology. Latin origin, bulbosus = bulbous, with reference to the ornamentation constituted by tubercles.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Pattern of central muscle scars of Bulbocythere calida gen. et sp. nov. compared with two similar hemicytherids (Echinocythereis jorunbrix Brandão & Karanovic, 2015 and Ruggiericythere purperae Aiello et al., 2004).