Kotov A.A.1, Stifter P.2 2006. Notes on the genus Ilyocryptus Sars, 1862 (Cladocera: Anmopoda: Ilyocryptidae). 7. Two new species from South Africa, with first record of Ilyocryptus from rockpools // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.14 (for 2005). No.3: 219–228 [in English].
1 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Leninsky Prospect 33, Moscow 119071 Russia.
2 Smetanova 25, Benatky nad Jizerou 29471 Czech Republic.
KEY WORDS: Cladocera, Anomopoda, Ilyocryptus, morphology, systematics, Africa.
ABSTRACT. Ilyocryptus Sars, 1862 (Cladocera: Anomopoda: Ilyocryptidae) with a subdistal anus is unknown from Africa. But, recently we found two new species in South Africa with this morphology: Ilyocryptus martensi sp.n. from a rockpool in the mountains of Lesotho, and Ilyocryptus africanus sp.n. from Cape Point, Republic of South Africa. These species represent the first finding of an ilyocryptid in rockpools. Also, these species are congeners of species with a subdistal anus from the southern hemisphere: I. brevidentatus Ekman, 1905 and I. smirnovi Kotov et Timms, 1998. But, in contrast to the latter pair, I. martensi sp.n. and I. africanus sp.n. have a remarkably short antenna I, with the distal segment bearing rows of denticles, and also a row of paired spines reaching the distal third of the postanal margin of the postabdomen. The two new species described here are the closest relatives of I. nevadensis Cervantes-Martínez, Gutiérrez-Aguirre et Elías-Gutiérrez, 2000. Differences between I. nevadensis, I. martensi sp.n. and I. africanus sp.n. are reported.
All species with incomplete moulting and a subdistal anus in the Southern Hemisphere are endemics or have a narrow distribution. Perhaps these species are the relicts of a large group, which had a very wide, if not cosmopolitan, geographical distribution in the past (in the Lower Mesozoic?).