Pauliani’s Afrocyclops (Afrocyclops pauliani)
This species is known based on a single specimen that was discovered in 1951 in a small freshwater pool near Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar.
The species has never been found since and is considered most likely extinct.
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edited: 29.04.2021
Category Archives: Copepoda
Tropodiaptomus ctenopus Kiefer
Comb-footed Pelagic Copepod (Tropodiaptomus ctenopus)
This species was described in 1930 from the region of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
The Comb-footed Pelagic Copepod, whose biology is completely unknown, was never found again and is believed to be extinct.
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Another species, the Malagasy Pelagic Copepod (Tropodiaptomus madagascariensis (Rylov)), is a planktonic species that appears to be endemic to some of the lakes at the Central Highlands region.
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edited: 07.11.2017
Paranitocrella bastiani Tang & Knott
Bastian’s Copepod (Paranitocrella bastiani)
Bastian’s Copepod was described in 2009 based on several specimens that were collected between 1992 and 1996 from underground freshwater streams in the extensive karstic cave system within the Yanchep National Park in Western Australia.
The species inhabited floating root mats produced by so-called Tuart trees (Eucalyptus gomphocephala DC.) growing above the caves; these root mats provide an abundant and constant food source for several aquatic invertebrates, including this highly specialized copepod.
However, unsustainable use of the Gnangara Mound, which feeds the area’s underground streams, has led to a loss of water and consequently to the loss of the only habitat of this species, which hasn’t been found since the 1990s and which is now believed to be extinct. [1]
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References:
[1] Danny Tang; Brenton Knott: Freshwater cyclopoids and harpacticoids (Crustacea: Copepoda) from the Gnangara Mound region of Western Australia. Zootaxa 2029: 1-70. 2009
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edited: 20.01.2020