DARCYTHOMPSONIIDAE Lang, 1936


The Darcythompsonidae are a small widepread family including four genera viz. Leptocaris, T.Scott, 1899 (syn. Horsiella Gurney, 1920), Darcythompsonia T. Scott, 1906, Kristensenia Por, 1983, Falcocaris Fiers (not ben diagnosed so far) and the recently described Pabellonia Gomez, 2000, with species for the most part living in decomposing mangrove-tree leaves, sea waters, a few in fresh or brackish waters; The former is the most species-rich with 30 valid species/subspecies (Walter, Boxshall, 2023).

"The four genera have been defined by a set of characters and character states such as (1) absence or presence of well developed or rudimentary maxillipeds, (2) P1 END 1 with or without an anteriorly directed inner seta with comb tip, (3) presence or absence and armature of the mandibular palp, (4) shape of anal operculum and caudal rami, (5) presence or absence of sexual dimorphic structures on the second and third male urosomite, and (6) presence or absence of sexual dimorphism in the male P2 END 2, anal operculum and caudal rami" (from: Gomez, 2000 )


LEPTOCARIS Scott, 1899 [syn. Horsiella Gurney, 1920; Thaumastognatha Jakobi, 1954]

  • Leptocaris adriatica (Petkovski, 1955 [Adriatic Sea] (syn. Leptocaris biscayensis (Noodt, 1955)
  • Leptocaris armatus Lang, 1965 [USA; sea waters]
  • Leptocaris azoricus Kunz, 1983 [Azores; littoral psammon]
  • Leptocaris biscayensis (Noodt, 1955) [Sweden, south Italy, Croatia, Canarie; marine beaches]
  • Leptocaris brevicornis (Dowe, 1905) [cosmopolitan; fresh, brackish waters]
  • Leptocaris canariensis Lang, 1965 [Canarie islands; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris colombiana Gomez & Fuentes.Reines, 2017 [Colombia]
  • Leptocaris doughertyi Lang, 1965 [USA; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris echinatus echinatus Fiers, 1986 [West Indian islands; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris echinatus nudus Kunz, 1994 [Hawai; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris elishevae (Por, 1968) [Red Sea; ground waters] *
  • Leptocaris emekdasi Koregen et al., 2014 [Turkey]
  • Leptocaris glaber Fiers, 1986 [West Indies; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris gurneyi (Nicholls, 1944) [Red Sea, Egypt; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris ignavus (Noodt, 1953) [Germany; sea waters]
  • Leptocaris igneus Cottarelli & Baldari, 1982 [south Italy; marine psammon]
  • Leptocaris insularis (Noodt, 1958) [Canarie islands; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris islandica Apostolov, 2007 [Iceland; brackish waters]
  • Leptocaris itoi Kunz, 1994 [Hawai; marine]
  • Leptocaris kunzi Fleeger & Clark, 1980 [USA; sea waters]
  • Leptocaris mangalis Por, 1983 [Sinai, USA, Brazil, West Indies; brackish coastal waters, mangrove forests]
  • Leptocaris marina (Por, 1964) [Israel; sea waters]
  • Leptocaris minimus (Jakobi, 1954) [Brazil, Hawai, West Indies, Canary islands; brackish coastal waters]
  • Leptocaris minima (Noodt, 1958) accepted as Leptocaris canariensis Lang, 1965
  • Leptocaris minutus T. Scott, 1899 [Scotland; brackish waters]
  • Leptocaris mucronatus Fiers, 1986 [West Indian islands; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris noodti Kunz, 1994 [Hawai; marine]
  • Leptocaris pori Lang, 1965 [USA; marine interstitial]
  • Leptocaris ryukyuensis Song et al., 2011 [Japan; sandy beach]
  • Leptocaris sibiricus Borutzky, 1952 [Asia; lakes]
  • Leptocaris stromatolicolus Valdez & Reid, 1990 [Mexico; inland waters]
  • Leptocaris trisetosus trisetosus (Kunz, 1935) [Europe; marine interstitial] (syn.Leptocaris trisetosus trisetosus (Kunz, 1935)
  • Leptocaris trisetosus pacificus Lee & Chang, 2008 [Korea]
  • Leptocaris trisetosus breviseta Kunz,1994 [south Africa, river interstitial]
  • Leptocaris vermiculatus (Oliveira, 1957) [USA, Bahamas, West Indies, Brazil; brackish lagoons]
  • Leptocaris vicina Gomez & Fuentes.Reines, 2017 [Colombia]

    * questionable species


    REVIEW AND WORLD SPECIES LIST OF LEPTOCARIS

    UPDATED KEYS TO SPECIES OF LEPTOCARIS



    KRISTENSENIA Por, 1983

    Por (1983) created the genus Kristensenia Por, 1983 to accommodate a darcythompsoniid copepod found in scrapings of decomposing mangrove leaves and detritus from Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles).

    The genus is unique within the family mainly because of the lack of sexual dimorphism in the second endopodal segment of P2, caudal rami and anal operculum, and lack of the fan-shaped dorsal organ on the second and third male urosomites (Gomez, 2000).


  • Kristensenia pallida Por, 1983 [Bonaire, Antilles; mangroves]
  • Kristensenia secunda Gomez, 2005 [Mexico; lagoons]



    PABELLONIA Gomez, 2000

  • Pabellonia olganoguerae Gomez, 2000 [Mexico, Gulf of California; lagoons]



    DARCYTHOMPSONIA T. Scott, 1906

  • Darcythompsonia fairliensis (T. Scott, 1899) [Europe, Mexico, Galapagos; marine, brackish waters, lagoons]
  • Darcythompsonia inopinata Smirnov, 1934 [West Indian islands, Papua, Salomon, Japan, Brazil; brackish coastal waters] *
  • Darcythompsonia neglecta Redeke, 1953 [Holland; brackish waters]
  • Darcythompsonia parva Wilson, 1932 [north America; brackish waters] ***
  • Darcythompsonia scottii Gurney, 1920 [Europe; brackish waters] **

    * synonym: Darcythompsonia radans Por, 1983 (Fiers, 1986)
    ** syn. of D. fairlensis (Huys et al., 1996)
    *** questionable species


    Following its distribution, "the ancestral stock of Darcythompsonia could have originated in the equatorial Thetys Sea at sometime during the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic period" (Gomez, 2000 - PDF).


    Distribution of species of the genus Darcythomsonia (after Gomez, 2000, modif.)


    FOLCOCARIS Fiers (nomen nudum; in Kunz, 1994)



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