Spelaeoecia bermudensis Angel & Iliffe 1987

Kornicker, Louis S., Iliffe, Thomas M. & Harrison-Nelson, Elizabeth, 2007, Ostracoda (Myodocopa) from Anchialine Caves and Ocean Blue Holes, Zootaxa 1565 (1), pp. 1-151 : 42

Spelaeoecia bermudensis Angel & Iliffe 1987

Figs. 18 , 19 , Tab. 4

Spelaeoecia bermudensis Angel & Iliffe 1987:545 , figs. 2–6.— Kornicker & Iliffe 1989a: 46, fig. 29.—Kornicker 1989: 314, figs. 1–5.

Type locality. Green Bay Cave, Bermuda.

Material. Bermuda Aquarium saltwater well, Flatts, Bermuda: 2 adult females with unextruded eggs: USNM 1021396 , USNM 1021397 , both in alcohol .

Holotype. USNM 228468 , adult female on five slides.

Distribution. Widespread in Bermudan caves (see Kornicker & Iliffe 1989a:46). Reported herein for the first time from a saltwater well at the Bermuda Aquarium.

Supplementary description of adult female ( Figs. 18 , 19 ). Carapace size (length, height in mm) ( Fig. 18 a ): USNM 1021396, 1.55, 0.86; USNM 1021397, 1.47, 0.87.

Infold: Right valve posterodorsal corner with undulate dorsal margin with minute bristle and large gland ( Fig. 18 b,c ): Left valve posterodorsal corner with minute separation (pore?) and indistinct internal process, possibly glandular, leading to it ( Fig. 18 d ). Dorsal end of posterior list of each valve thick, sclerotized ( Fig. 18 c–e ).

Sixth limb ( Fig. 19 a, c ): Protopod near distal end of epipod with small thumb-like process containing minute globules appearing to project from lateral side of limb.

Seventh limb ( Figs. 18 e,f ; 19 a,b,d ): With 3 bristles.

Furca. USNM 1021397 with 7 claws on right lamella ( Fig. 18 e ) and 8 on left.

Eggs ( Figs. 18 e,f , 19a,b,d,e ): USNM 1021397 with 9 unextruded eggs of various sizes. USNM 1021396 with 12 unextruded eggs of various sizes:

Sclerite: Comma shaped sclerite within body dorsal to furca (striated and ventral to sperm in Fig. 19d ).

Discussion of eggs. Eggs within the ovaries of the two adult females of S. bermudensis studied herein differ considerably in diameter ( Table 4; Figs. 18 e,f , 19 a,e ). Presumably, the large eggs were deposited in the ovary prior to the small eggs, and each egg is oviposited when it reaches a certain developmental stage. The percentage increase in diameter of consecutive eggs based on diameter vary from 0% to 105%. ( Table 4). This great difference suggests that either the eggs spurt in growth at different stages or, more likely, that intervals of time separate clutches of eggs, which permit the eggs already formed to grow substantially prior to formation of the following clutch. The eggs in both specimens increased considerably in diameter after reaching about 60 microns. In Table 4, the eggs are grouped into clutches separated on the bases of an arbitrary percentage of more than a 15% increase in diameter between consecutive eggs. The arbitrary division suggests clutches of one to four eggs.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Spelaeoecia bermudensis Angel & Iliffe1987, adult female: USNM 1021397: a, complete specimen from right side, length 1.47 mm; b, detail of posterior of complete specimen, from “a”; c, inside of posterior dorsal corner of right valve; d, inside of posterodorsal corner of left valve; e, posterior of body in left valve (right valve removed); f, left seventh limb and eggs within body. Scale equals 0.10 mm (b,f), 0.05 mm (c,d), 60x (d), and 0.20 mm (e).

FIGURE 19. Spelaeoecia bermudensis Angel & Iliffe 1987, adult female: USNM 1021397: a, posterior of body showing left sixth limb, left seventh limb, left genitalia, and 9 eggs; b, detail from “a”; c, right sixth limb, lv; d, detail from "a" in slightly different orientation showing muscles and comma-shaped sclerite (wavy filled-in lines may be gonopore). USNM 1021396, adult female: e, eggs removed from body. Scale equals 0.10 mm (a,c,e), 0.05 mm (b,d).