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Revision of the egg morphology of Eulimnadia (Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Spinicaudata)

Nicolas RABET

en Zoosystema 32 (3) - Pages 373-391

Published on 24 September 2010

The egg morphology of Eulimnadia is presented on the basis of samples stored in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, representing 11 species one of which unidentified. Study of all specimens revealed the presence of nine different egg types. Seven types could clearly be assigned to one species, six of which after eggs produced by the type specimens of the species. In addition, the identification of the specimens labelled “E. colombica” as E. geayi was confirmed, the identification of an E. magdalensis population initially identified as E. compressa was corrected, the species E. chaperi is considered as valid, and a new egg type representing a potential new species was described. Seven instances of contamination from five species were identified, demonstrating that small eggs can easily contaminate samples during collection handling. Advice on museum collection management, a synthesis of the knowledge on egg morphology and an identification key of described Eulimnadia eggs is presented in order to prepare a general revision of this genus based on the egg morphology, which provides informative specific characters.


Keywords:

Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Spinicaudata, Limnadiidae, Eulimnadia, SEM, egg morphology.

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