MS 1429. Taxonomy and Zoogeography of the Family Thaerocytheridae Hazel, 1967 (Ostracoda) from Southern Brazilian Continental Shelf

Abstract

Abstract. Of the overall fauna of 95 species of benthic ostracoda recovered from dry sediments from the southern Brazilian continental shelf, 8% belong to the Family Thaerocytheridae. Six species assigned to this family are discussed and figured in this paper; four of these, i.e., Bradleya pseudonormani, B. kaesleri , Muellerina cribrosa and Quadracythere nealei are described as new while Brasilicythere reticulispinosa Sanguinetti et al., 1991 and Quadracythere eichlerae Carreño et al., 1997 were described for the first time from the Quaternary of Pelotas Basin, in southern Brazil. Most of these species are restricted to the southern part of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, and their geographical distributions range from the southern Brazilian continental shelf, in Rio de Janeiro State (21oS), to the Argentinean continental shelf (52oS). Three species are restricted to the southern Brazilian continental shelf: B. kaesleri sp. nov., M. cribrosa sp. nov. and Q. nealei sp. nov. Three species also have fossil records: B. reticulispinosa (Oligocene to Recent) and Q. eichlerae and B. kaesleri sp. nov. (both Holocene to Recent).