First Record of Kurzia media (Birge 1879) (Cladocera: Chydoridae) in Brazil with notes on the holotype

Abstract

ABSTRACT The genus Kurzia, initially described in 1894 by Dybowski and Grochowski, has a worldwide distribution and includes eight species. In Brazil, Kurzia polyspina is so far the only species considered valid. Here we report the first record of Kurzia media in Brazil, and the second record in South America. The material was collected in a lake in the Amazonian region of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. In addition, we provide some considerations about the taxonomic history of the species and discuss the need for a redescription and the designation of a neotype for K. media. With our record, K. media now has two known occurrence localities in northern North America and two in tropical South America, with a widely disjunct distribution that needs further elucidation.

Keywords

• biodiversity
• Branchiopoda
• Neotropical region
• taxonomy
• Amazonia