In this study, we investigated the bioaccumulation of copper (Cu) by microgreen algae Scenedesmus acutus and Chlorella vulgaris and toxicity of dietborne copper from algae to benthic ostracod Heterocypris incongruens. Scenedesmus acutus and C. vulgaris were exposed to different concentrations of waterborne Cu for 10 days then the ostracod was fed this food exclusively under 24h dark condition f...

Key-words: whole-sediment toxicity tests, sensitivity comparison, Hyalella azteca, Heterocypris incongruens, ostracod microbiotest The review first details the development of the test procedures with Hyalella azteca which historically emerged as one of the recommended test species for whole-sediment assays and its gradual standardization and endorsement by national and international organizatio...

Zooplankton swimming near the substratum experience boundary layer flow that is characterized by steep velocity gradients and turbulence. How do small swimming organisms navigate flows at this interface to forage and interact with mates? To address this question, we collected field measurements of the swimming behavior of the marine ostracod Paravargula trifax near complex living substrata, whi...

An exceptionally preserved new ostracod crustacean from the Silurian of Herefordshire, England, preserves eggs and possible juveniles within its carapace, providing an unequivocal and unique view of parental brood care in the invertebrate fossil record. The female fossil is assigned to a new family and superfamily of myodocopids based on its soft-part anatomy. It demonstrates a remarkably conse...

Pentastomids (tongue worms) are worm-like arthropods known today from ∼140 species [1]. All but four are parasitic on vertebrates. Their life cycle typically involves larval development in an intermediate host followed by maturation in the respiratory tract of a definitive terrestrial host. Fossil pentastomids are exceedingly rare and are known only from isolated juveniles [2-6]. The identity o...

The ostracod family Cylindroleberididae is based on the genus Cylindroleberis Brady, 1868, and has a complicated nomenclatural history. The type species of Cylindroleberis is Cypridina mariae Baird, 1850. Baird described only the carapace, which had been considered lost. Thus, there was no reference point for the concept C. mariae or the genus Cylindroleberis. Baird's material has now been foun...

The luminescent marine ostracod Vargula hilgendorfii comprises distinct populations around the Japanese islands. Its mitochondrial DNA is unusual, with duplicated control regions (CRs; CR#1 and CR#2). We determined the sequences of ostracod CRs in 7 different populations. The sequences of CR#1 and CR#2 within any population were extremely similar, above 99.7%; moreover, their derived evolutiona...

The Miocene mega-wetland of western Amazonia holds a diverse, largely endemic ostracod fauna. Among them, especially the genus Cyprideis experienced a remarkable radiation. Micropalaeontologic investigations of a 400 m long sediment core (~62 km SW Benjamin Constant, Amazonia, Brazil) permitted a taxonomic revision of about two-thirds of hitherto described Cyprideis species. We evaluate the dia...

Eyes serve as models to understand the evolution of complex traits, with broad implications for the origins of evolutionary novelty. Discussions of eye evolution are relevant at many taxonomic levels, especially within arthropods where compound eye distribution is perplexing. Either compound eyes were lost numerous times or very similar eyes evolved separately in multiple lineages. Arthropod co...

SYNOPSIS. Eyes serve as models to understand the evolution of complex traits, with broad implications for the origins of evolutionary novelty. Discussions of eye evolution are relevant at many taxonomic levels, especially within arthropods where compound eye distribution is perplexing. Either compound eyes were lost numerous times or very similar eyes evolved separately in multiple lineages. Ar...