Elaphoidella bidens (Schmeil, 1894)

Tang, Danny & Knott, Brenton, 2009, Freshwater cyclopoids and harpacticoids (Crustacea: Copepoda) from the Gnangara Mound region of Western Australia, Zootaxa 2029, pp. 1-70 : 60

Elaphoidella bidens (Schmeil, 1894)

Material examined. Boomerang Cave ( YN99 ), Yanchep National Park, Western Australia (31°32'33''S, 115°41'24''E): 1 ♀, 17 July , 1992; 1 ♀, 28 August , 1994; Spillway Cave ( YN565 ), Yanchep National Park , Western Australia (31°32'41''S, 115°40'37''E): 6 ♀ ( AM P.78936), 8 November, 2005; Twilight Cave ( YN194 ), Yanchep National Park , Western Australia (31°34'05''S, 115°41'21''E): 14 ♀ (1 dissected and mounted on slide) and 3 copepodids, 17 July, 1992; Edgecombe spring, Ellenbrook, Western Australia (31°47'39''S, 115°59'43''E): 1 ♂, 4 November, 1995 .

Remarks. Elaphoidella bidens (Schmeil, 1894) is a cosmopolitan species that typically inhabits the littoral zone of large waterbodies ( Gurney 1932; Lewis 1972). In Australia, this species is known to occur commonly in slow-moving streams or lakes in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland ( Hamond 1987). The presence of E. bidens from the Gnangara Mound region, accordingly, represents the first record of this species in Western Australia. Although the occurrence of this species in ground waters of Western Australia is unusual, it is certainly not unique, as it has been reported previously from caves in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan ( Miura 1962b) and North America ( Reeves et al. 2000).