Two new Pontocyprididae (Ostracoda) species from Korea

Abstract

Pontocyprididae is a diverse ostracod family with over 300 species described so far. It has a worldwide distribution in various marine ecosystems. I describe two new species belonging to Ekpontocypris Maddocks, 1969 and Schedopontocypris Maddocks, 1969. They have been collected from shallow littoral and interstitial waters from the east coast of Korea. This is the first record of the family from this country. Two new species differ from their closest congeners mostly by male sexual characters, including morphology of the hemipenis and prehensile palps. Taxonomic keys to living representatives of Ekpontocypris and genera of Pontocyprididae are provided.