Loxoconchissa (Loxocaspia) aff. reticulata Faranda, Gliozzi and Ligios, 2007

Rausch, Lea & Stoica, Marius, 2019, AN EARLY PLEISTOCENE ANOMALOHALINE WATER OSTRACOD FAUNA FROM LAKE DEPOSITS OF THE HOMO ERECTUS-BEARING KOCABAŞ LOCALITY (SW TURKEY), Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae 15 (2), pp. 41-69 : 61

Loxoconchissa (Loxocaspia) aff. reticulata Faranda, Gliozzi and Ligios, 2007

2007 Loxoconchissa - Faranda, Gliozzi and ( Loxocaspia ) Ligios, p. 317, fig. 8 (1- reticulata nov. 10).

sp.

Description. The carapace has an oval rhomboidal to elliptical shape in the lateral view. The species shows remarkable sexual dimorphism. The female carapace is slightly oblique oval rhomboidal in shape, high, compressed and the ventral and dorsal margins run almost parallel, the ventral margin is being arched. The straight running dorsal margin passes smoothly onto the broadly rounded anterior end as well as onto the narrower converging posterior end. The maximum width of the carapace is slightly behind mid-length, close to where the eye-spot can be observed in the anterodorsal corner. The ornamentation is made up of irregular meshes separated by thick muri that cover the entire surface of the valve. The male carapace is slightly more elongated in shape and shows a broadly flattened anterior area and a well pronounced tubercle in the posterior part. Within the posterior area the ornamentation becomes less pronounced or in some cases is missing completely. The rest of the valves surface reticulation follows the margins and forms a mesh (longitudinal running rows that are separated by ridges). The carapace of some observed specimens seems to be covered by a thin layer of secondary calcite. Dimension: Male: l = 0, 60 – 0, 62 mm, h = 0, 32 – 0, 40 mm; Female: l = 0, 53- 0, 57 mm, h = 0, 30 - 0, 34 mm.

Ecology. The Loxoconchidae family is well known from both brackish fossil taxa as well as living genera ( Faranda et al., 2007). Loxoconchissa (Loxocaspia) aff. reticulata was first described from Late Miocene sediments from northern Italy ( Faranda et al., 2007).