A new giant cypridid ostracod (Crustaceae) from southern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Abstract

Amphicypris argentinensis sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Laguna Caliba, an ephemeral fresh water lake from the southern coast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Specimens were raised from dried sediment recovered from a bank of ostracod shells found at the edges of the lake. Deposition of progressively smaller ostracod valves stacked one into another (cup-in-cup structure) is documented. The geographical distribution and ecology of the genus is briefly discussed.