Parastygocaris andina Noodt, 1963

Alejandra, Marcela, Verónica, Águeda & Miranda, Isa, 2023, South America stygobiont crustaceans: a new species of Hyalellidae (Amphipoda) and new reports of Stygocarididae (Anaspidacea) and Protojaniridae (Isopoda) from Calingasta Valley, Pre-Andean region, San Juan, Argentina, Zootaxa 5264 (1), pp. 1-26 : 20-21

Parastygocaris andina Noodt, 1963

Type locality: Uspallata, Mendoza, Argentine ( Noodt, 1963b, pp 576: “ Hochtal von Uspallata /Argentinien, etwa 2500 m, unweit des Touristenhotels. Bach-Ufergrundwasser in kiesigem Schotter”) .

Material examined. 1 male, total body length 2.5 mm (incomplete, uropod and pereiopods lost) and 1 juvenil (incomplete), FML-CRUST 01292 ( Fig. 11 ), San Juan Province, Calingasta Department, Calingasta River (hyporheic), Well Nº1, 31°20′30.7′′S, 69°25′38.1′′ W, 1373 m a.s.l., 6 Nov 2014, M. Peralta & A. Franck Colombres cols .; 5 males, 20 females, 19 juveniles, FML-CRUST 01293, Mendoza Province, Uspallata, Arroyo Uspallata, Well Nº1, 32°35′25.7′′S, 69°21′04.2′′W, 1884 m a.s.l., 6 Nov 2014, M. Peralta & A. Franck Colombres cols .; 18 males, 88 females and 47 juveniles, FML-CRUST 00580, Mendoza Province, Uspallata, Las Bóvedas stream, 32°34.244′ S, 69°20.436′ W, 1926 m a.s.l., 17 Jun 1999, L. Grosso & M. Peralta cols .; 1 male, FML-CRUST 00581, Mendoza Province, Uspallata, Las Bóvedas stream, 32° 34.244′S, 69°20.436′ W, 1926 m a.s.l., 17 Jun 1999, L. Grosso & M. Peralta cols .; 6 females, 2 males, juveniles, FML-CRUST 00583, Mendoza Province, Uspallata, Arroyo Uspallata , 32°35′392′′S, 69°21′ 206′′W, 17 Jun 1999, L. Grosso & M. Peralta cols .

Records and comments. Anaspidacea is a malacostracan group that comprises about thirty living species and fossils from Triassic Australian freshwaters. Their recent species are confined to the Southern Hemisphere and it is considered a Gondwanan lineage, with records from Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and southern South America ( Chile and Argentina). In South America, only two families are represented, namely Stygocarididae (8 species in 3 genera) and Patagonaspididae (monospecific from Argentina) ( Rogers et al. 2020). The Stygocarididae include the smallest anaspidaceans (1–4 mm) with marked simplification of appendages and low dispersal ability. All the Neotropical species are stygobionts that inhabit aquifers and hyporheic interstitial environments, and mostly are cited only for their type locality.

The site of the new find of P. andina (Calingasta River) lies within the Barreal-Rodeo longitudinal depression, which is surrounded by the Precordillera and the Andes mountain range. This depression extends to the south reaching the northern portion of Mendoza province through the Uspallata Valley. P. andina was originally described for the Uspallata River (Uspallata Valley, Mendoza province; Noodt 1963b). Given that this is a strictly subterranean species, the new report of P. andina in the Calingasta River would allow inferring the existence of hydrogeological connection between the Uspallata and Calingasta aquifers.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Habitus (photograph) Parastygocaris andina (FML-CRUST 01292) (Anaspidacea, Stygocarididae).