A new species of the genus Elpidium (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from phytotelmata in northeast Argentina”

KOEN MARTENS; DÍAZ, ANALIA

Foz de Iguazu

Congreso; 37th Congress of the International Society of Limnology.; 2024

We described a new species of the ostracod genus Elpidium (Timiriaseviinae), a group almost exclusively known from Neotropical bromeliad phytotelmata. This finding represents the first record of the genus in this country, bringing the total of described Elpidium species to 19. The presence of the genus in Argentina confirms the southern border of the distribution of the genus and the fact that species of Elpidium can also be found in non-bromeliad phytothelmata.Samples were collected with a pipette from Aechmea distichantha, Vriesea friburgensis (Bromeliacea) and Eryngium pandanifolium (Apiaceae) in three areas in the northeast subtropical region of Argentina. Ostracods were dissected and valves stored dry in micropaleontological slides and with soft parts in glycerine in sealed slides. The new species can be distinguished from others species of the genus mainly by the morphology of valves and hemipenis.In view of the recently increased knowledge on the distribution of the species in this Neotropical genus, we also discuss potential drivers of speciation that might have led to the high (endemic) diversity of the group: allopatry in bromeliad islands, sexual selection and putative co-evolution between ostracod and bromeliad species. We also point out the biogeographical relevance of the present records, which are amongst the most southern of the genus.