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Vol. 54, 2015
Alona kaingang
(Crustacea, Cladocera, Aloninae): a new species of the pulchellagroup,
with identification key to Neotropical species
Francisco
Diogo Rocha Sousa1,2*, Lourdes Maria Abdu Elmoor-Loureiro2
and Sandro Santos1
1Núcleo
de Estudos em Biodiversidade Aquática, Programa de Pós-graduação em
Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria—UFSM, Av.
Roraima 1000, Camobi, Santa Maria CEP 97105-900, RS, Brazil
2Laboratório de Biodiversidade Aquática, Universidade
Católica de Brasília—UCB, QS7 lote 1, Bloco M, sala 204, Taguatinga CEP
71966-700, DF, Brazil
Abstract
Background: The subfamily Aloninae has been the
focus of extensive studies on the Chydoridae because it has a higher
diversity of species and due to the necessity of a detailed
redescription of many taxa, especially using characters related to
thoracic appendages. The polyphyletic genus Alona was redefined recently, and
many species complexes were translocated to natural groups. The pulchella-group is a candidate for
removal from Alona because it
forms a well-defined complex of species, besides possessing higher
species diversity. At present, 50 % of the known species occur in the
Neotropics.
Results: In this study, we described Alona kaingang, a new species of pulchella-group distributed in
southern South America. The new species shares with other species
similarities in general features of limbs but, for instance, differs
from South American Alona glabra because it has a short
postabdomen. Alona kaingang sp. nov. differs from
Andean Alona altiplana because it has thick denticles on the
postabdomen and longitudinal lines on the carapace are absent.
Differences in the limbs were also observed.
Conclusions: Alona kaingang sp. nov. is part of
the group that contains species with complete connection between the
main head pores. Like other species of the pulchella-group, A. kaingang sp. nov. also has
similarities with the genus Ovalona.
The relationship between these two species groups still needs to be
tested.
Key words: Chydoridae; Alona anamariae; Ovalona; Head pores; Limb;
Postabdomen.
*Correspondence: E-mail: sousa_bio@yahoo.com.br
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