Ostracod Research at the Lake Biwa Museum, Japan

Robin James Smith

Genus Cypridopsis Brady, 1867

Superfamily: Cypridoidea Baird, 1845
Family: Cyprididae Baird, 1845
Subfamily: Cypridopsinae Kaufmann, 1900

One species has been reported from Korea:

1. Cypridopsis vidua (O. F. Müller, 1776)

Dorsal view of a female Cypridopsis vidua, length 0.6 mm. Anterior to the right. The patches of colouration are very variable, ranging from dark purple/black through to light green. Specimens with no colouration are also known.

External view of female left valve of Cypridopsis vidua, length 645 microns. The surface of the valves are often pitted (punctate) and covered with stiff setae.

External view of female right valve of Cypridopsis vidua, length 640 microns.

Additional figures in: Meisch 2000; Okubo 2004; Smith et al. 2011; Chang et al. 2012.
Habitat: Found in a wide variety of habitats. In Japan found in lakes, ponds, and rice fields.
Mode of life: Nektobenthic (swimmer).
Reproductive mode: Asexual, males unknown (although see Meisch 2000, p. 377).
Known distribution: North Gyeongsang Province (Chang et al. 2012), Jeju Island (Smith et al. 2014). Elsewhere, found globally, a cosmopolitan species (Meisch 2000).
References:
⚬ Chang C. Y., Lee, J. & Smith, R. J. 2012. Nonmarine ostracods (Crustacea) from South Korea, including a description of a new species of Tanycypris Triebel (Cyprididae, Cypricercinae). Zootaxa, 3161, 1-19.
⚬ Meisch, C. 2000. Freshwater Ostracoda of Western and Central Europe. In: Schwoerbel, J., Zwick, P., (Eds.), Süßwasserfauna von Mitteleuropa 8/3. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin 522 pp.
⚬ Okubo, I. 2004. Nihon tansui san kaimijinko rui ni tsuite. Kabushikigaisha Sanmon Insatsusho, Okayama, Japan, 72pp. [In Japanese, privately published].
⚬ Smith, R. J., Janz, H. & Okubo, I. 2011. Recent Cyprididae and Ilyocyprididae (Crustacea: Ostracoda) from Lake Biwa, Japan, including a summary of the lake's ostracod fauna. Zootaxa, 2874, 1-37.
⚬ Smith, R. J., Lee, J. & Chang, C. Y. 2014. Nonmarine Ostracoda (Crustacea) from Jeju Island, South Korea, including descriptions of two new species. Journal of Natural History, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2014.946110, 1-40.