Ozestheria, Schwentner & Just & Richter, 2015

Schwentner, Martin, Just, Franziska & Richter, Stefan, 2015, Evolutionary systematics of the Australian Cyzicidae (Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Spinicaudata) with the description of a new genus, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173 (2), pp. 271-295 : 281

OZESTHERIA GEN. NOV.

SCHWENTNER & RICHTER

Etymology: The name is derived from Oz, a colloquial abbreviation for Australia (the only continent the genus is known from) and Estheria, a former name for the Cyzicidae , which was established by Rüppel (1837) and is still part of several generic names within the Spinicaudata .

Diagnosis: Overall morphology resembles that of other Cyzicidae ; carapace with umbo and with or without sculpturing between growth lines; condyle either short and rounded or elongated and pointed; male and female rostrum without posterior margin (in contrast to Eocyzicus and Cyzicus ); posterior trunk segments with several dorsal spines (in contrast to Eocyzicus , which features only one spine per segment); telson with numerous, irregular spines; scales at the tip of the movable finger of the male claspers always slender and claw-like.

Type species: Ozestheria lutraria ( Brady, 1886) .

Further species: The two Australian species formerly assigned to Caenestheriella are transferred to Ozestheria gen. nov., namely Ozestheria mariae ( Olesen & Timms, 2005) and Ozestheria packardi ( Brady, 1886) including all three varieties of the latter Ozestheria packardi var. typical ( Spencer & Hall, 1896) , O. packardi var. cancellata ( Spencer & Hall, 1896) , and Ozestheria packardi var. minor ( Spencer & Hall, 1896) . Furthermore, all species formerly assigned to Caenestheria are now transferred to Ozestheria gen. nov., namely Ozestheria berneyi ( Gurney, 1927) , Ozestheria dictyon ( Spencer & Hall, 1896) , Ozestheria elliptica ( Sars, 1897) , A. lutraria ( Brady, 1886) , Ozestheria rubra ( Henry, 1924) , Ozestheria rufa ( Dakin, 1914) , and Ozestheria sarsii ( Sayce, 1903) (for more details, see Taxonomic implications). The assignment of O. rufa , O. dictyon , and O. elliptica to Ozestheria gen. nov. is somehow ambiguous because no specimens of these species were available in the present study; however, our results strongly suggest that all Australian species share a common ancestry.

Distribution: The genus is only known from Australia.