Latinopsis, Karanovic, Ivana & Datry, Thibault, 2009

Karanovic, Ivana & Datry, Thibault, 2009, Overview of Candoninae (Crustacea, Ostracoda) of South America and the West Indies, with the description of two new species and one new genus, Zootaxa 2267, pp. 1-25 : 3-5

Genus Latinopsis gen. nov.

Diagnosis of the genus. Valves in lateral view reniform/subreniform. Valve surface smooth, only covered with small setae. LV overlapping RV on all free margins, postero-dorsally often with postero-dorsal flange. Calcified inner lamella narrow on both ends. Marginal pore canals short and straight, posteriorly barely visible. A1 7-segmented. Male A2 with setae t2 and t3 transformed into sexual bristles; seta z1 seta like, z2 transformed into a claw, z3 seta like. Claws G1 and G3 reduced, latter one seta like. In female, G2 claw as long as other claws on penultimate segment. Terminal segment on Md palp short, only 1.5 times longer than wide. Terminal segment of Mxl palp rectangular. Prehensile palps almost symmetrical with left one being more elongated. T2 with basal seta on protopod. T3 with three setae on basal segment, e, f, g setae present, terminal segment with two long and one short seta. CR without posterior seta, anterior and posterior claws both well developed. Hemipenis with one lobe “a” and one lobe “b”. Lobe “b” prominent and distinctly separated from the lobe “a”. Genital lobe in the female rounded, or with small processes.

Type species Latinopsis patagonica gen. nov., sp. nov.

Other species:

Latinopsis anisitsi ( Daday, 1905) comb. nov. (= Candonopsis anisitsi ; =Cubacandona anisitsi ),

Latinospsis columbiensis ( Mehés, 1914) comb. nov. ( Candona columbiensis ; = Candonopsis columbiensis ; =Cubacandona columbiensis ),

Latinopsis falclandica ( Vávra, 1898) comb. nov. ( Candonopsis falclandica ; =Cubacandona falclandica ).

Etymology. The genus name is derived from “Latin America ” with the suffix “opsis” most often used for the genera of the tribe Candonopsini. Gender feminine.

Remarks and affinities. Latinopsis gen. nov. clearly belongs into the tribe Candonopsini because of the combination of the following characters: the absence of posterior seta on the CR, the appearance of the terminal segment of T3 (with a clear difference in the length of h2 and h3 setae), the broad penultimate segment of the Mxl palp, the seta z2 on the male antenna is transformed into a claw, while z1 is seta-like. The new genus belongs to the group of genera with the terminal segment of the Md palp not elongated, i.e. it is less than three times longer than broad. As well as the new genus Latinopsis , the following three genera belong here: Cubacandona Broodbakker, 1983; Caribecandona Broodbakker, 1983, and Pioneercandonopsis Karanovic, 2005 . The first two genera are known from the West Indies ( Broodbakker 1983, Danielopol 1980, Karanovic 2004), while the last genus is known from Queensland in Australia ( Karanovic 2005b). They are all stygobionts. The new genus differs from Cubacandona, Caribecandona and Pioneercandonopsis in the absence of the second lobe “a” on the hemipenis and a different shape of the prehensile palps on the T1, i.e. palps in the new genus do not have such long subterminal setae and are more symmetrical. In addition to this, the A1 is reduced in Caribecandona and Pioneercandonopsis , and in Caribecandona the posterior claw on the caudal ramus is strongly reduced. The carapaces of Cubacandona and Caribecandona are asymmetrical in lateral outline (left one being much higher than the right one) and rectangular or triangular, while in Latinopsis the carapace shape is more reniform or elongate, like in other Candonopsini genera and Pioneercandonopsis . The genus Cubacandona is the most similar to the new genus, as the species of the two genera share a 7- segmented A1. Karanovic (2004) tentatively placed all species assigned to the genus Candonopsis Vávra, 1891 from South America and the West Indies in the genus Cubacandona, suspecting, however, that they might belong into separate genera. After the discovery of Latinopsis patagonica gen. nov. sp. nov. it seems likely that Cubacandona falclandica ( Vávra, 1898) , C. columbiensis ( Mehés, 1914) and C. anisitsi ( Daday, 1905) belong to Latinopsis . Cubacandona anisitsi has been redescribed below, giving enough arguments for the proposed systematic rearrangements. Both C. falclandica and C. columbiensis have a short terminal segment of the mandibular palp, and almost symmetrical prehensile palps as well as a hemipenis with prominent lobe “b”, what gives us enough reasoning to consider both species as representatives of the genus Latinopsis . Tressler (1941) reported Candonopsis kingsleyi (Brady & Robertson 1870) from bromeliads from Puerto Rico, providing only a short description and drawings of an undissected male specimen. Danielopol (1980) gave additional drawings of the same specimen, leaving it in open nomenclature as Candonopsis sp. Its position in Latinopsis may be supported by the appearance of the prehensile palps and the shape of the lobe “b” on the hemipenis. The length: width ratio of the terminal segment of the Md palp is described by Danielopol (1980) as: “la forme du palpe mandibulaire qui ressemble à celui de C. trichota et C. thienemanni ”. Candonopsis trichota Schäfer, 1945 and C. thienemanni Schäfer, 1945 were described from the subterranean waters of Greece ( Schäfer 1945) and they have a short terminal segment on the mandibular palp. This suggests that the Puerto Rican species also belongs to the genus Latinopsis and it should be probably described as a new species after the examination of the type material.

Sars (1901) described Candonopsis brasiliensis Sars, 1901 , providing only a brief description and drawings of the carapace. Karanovic & Marmonier (2002) did not include this species in the key to the world representatives of Candonopsis , giving it a status of incertae sedis. Therefore its taxonomic status cannot be assessed at present, and it is not possible to discriminate it from the other representatives of the genus Candonopsis , or even of the tribe Candonopsini.