Ostracoda is one of the most diverse groups of crustaceans living in all aquatic ecosystems: marine, brackish, and freshwater (including subterranean ecosystems). They are cosmopolitan in distribution and play a vital role in the food chain and energy flow in the aquatic ecosystem. Ostracoda is considered as a separate class under Crustacea and it has been divided into the subclasses Myodocopa (only marine representatives) and Podocopa (Martin & Davis 2001; Horne et al. 2002). The subclass Podocopa has the following three orders: Platycopida, which includes marine and a very few brackish water forms; Podocopida which is present in both freshwater and the marine environment; and Palaeocopida known only from fossils records (Karanovic 2012). Globally, there are about 2103 species of non-marine Ostracoda and they are classified into 209 genera, 15 families and three superfamilies: Darwinuloidae, Cytheroidea, and Cypridoidea (Martens & Savatenalinton 2011; Karanovic 2012). Among the different zoogeographic regions, the oriental region has 200 species, of which 83% are endemic and the Australian region alone accounts for 176 species (Martens et al. 2008). Freshwater habitat exhibits a high Ostracoda diversity inspite of a rapid decline in freshwater biodiversity (Dudgeon et al. 2006, Martens & Savatenalinton 2011).

The taxonomic studies on Indian Ostracods were initiated by Baird (1859). Later, Victor & Fernando (1979) listed about 56 freshwater Ostracoda species from the Indian subcontinent. Further, Venkataraman & Krishnamoorthy (1998) estimated that there were 120 species of Ostracoda from freshwater and marine habitats, which included 24 genera and four families, but there was no comprehensive list. Therefore, based on the review of published data in Baird (1859), Gurney (1907), Klie (1927), Arora (1931), Brehm (1950), Hartmann (1964), Deb (1972, 1973a,b,c, 1983), Victor & Michael (1975), Victor & Fernando (1979, 1981), Battish (1978, 1981, 1998), Harshey & Victor (1983), Harshey & Shrivastava (1983), Gupta (1984, 1988 & 1991), Harshey & Srinivasan (1984), Harshey et al. (1987), Harshey & Patil (1988), Harshey (1996, 2008), George (1993), Jayasree et al. (1994) Venkataraman (1999), Patil (2002), George & Martens (2002, 2003, 2004), Patil & Talmale (2005a,b, 2012), Karanovic & Reddy (2008) and Harshey & Thilak (2011), we compile a checklist of Indian Ostracoda and discuss their status.

In the present review of Indian freshwater ostracods, we list 152 valid species belonging to 39 genera, five families and two super families (Tables 1,2). Further, the status of the uncertain species is marked with hash sign (#) in the checklist. It is found that 50 species reported from India have been synonymised (Martens & Savatenalinton 2011; Karanovic 2012) and their current valid nomenclature is also given in Table 3.

Literature reveals that there were several new species described in the past few decades from the Indian subcontinent by various workers, but the descriptions of most of the species seem to be insufficient to give the status of new species. Although most Indian taxonomists emphasized carapace morphology in ostracod identification, recent studies highlight that, in fact, soft parts morphology was crucial for their proper systematic placement. It was also observed that most of the species reported from India lack voucher and type locality information, which additionally contributes to the instability of the current Ostracoda nomenclature and validity of the species. Hence, the present checklist uses the type locality information provided in Karanovic (2012).

Freshwater faunal studies of Indian Ostracoda are limited and scattered, when compared to the global studies. In fact, the studies in this country are confined to a few states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and a few parts of Delhi. India is one of the biodiversity rich countries in the world. The oriental region is the hotspot of ostracoda diversity with 200 species, of which 83% are endemic (Martens et al. 2008) and nearly 58% of the species are endemic to India within the oriental region. This study emphasizes the need for further detailed investigation to confirm the validity and status of the majority of ostracod species reported from India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Systematic list of Indian Freshwater Ostracoda

Class: Ostracoda

Subclass: Prodocopa

Order: Podocopida

Suborder: Cypridocopina

Super family: Cypridoidea

 

Family: Cyprididae

Subfamily: Cyprettinae

1. Cypretta alagarkoilensis Victor & Michael, 1975
2. Cypretta fontinalis Hartman, 1964
3. Cypretta foveata Hartmann, 1964
4. Cypretta gargi Deb, 1983
5. Cypretta globosa (Brady, 1886)
6. Cypretta globula (Sars, 1889)
7. Cypretta patialaensis Battish, 1982
8. Cypretta raciborskii (Grochmalicki, 1915)
9. Cypretta ramai Deb, 1984
10. Cypretta seurati Gauthier, 1929
11. Cypretta turgida Sars, 1896
12. Pseudocypretta maculata Klie, 1932 Subfamily: Cypricercinae
13. Astenocypris papyracea (Sars, 1903)
14. Bradleycypris vittata (Sars, 1903)
15. Bradleystrandesia dani (George & Martens, 1993)
16. Bradleystrandesia mollis (Furtos, 1936)
17. Bradleystrandesia parva (Hartmann, 1964)
18. Bradleystrandesia reticulata (Zaddach, 1844)
19. Bradleystrandesia trichurensis (Victor et al., 1980)
20. Bradleystrandesia weberi (Moniez, 1892)
21. Bradleytriebella tuberculata (Hartmann, 1964)
22. Cypricercus indrani Deb, 1983 #
23. Cypricercus munshii Deb and Nasar, 1977 #
24. Cypricercus setosus Farkas, 1957
25. Cypricercus vietsi Farkas, 1957
26. Strandesia antetuberculata Hartmann & Petersen, 1985
27. Strandesia bicornuta Hartmann, 1964
28. Strandesia flavescens Klie, 1932
29. Strandesia calapanensis Tressler, 1937
30. Strandesia gopinathani George & Martens, 1993
31. Strandesia hartmanni Victor et al., 1980
32. Strandesia labiata Hartmann, 1964
33. Strandesia madhuriae Harshey & Srinivasan 1984
34. Strandesia odiosa (Moniez, 1892)
35. Strandesia perakensis Victor & Fernando, 1981
36. Strandesia bornemiszai Klie, 1935
37. Strandesia purpurascens (Brady, 1886)
38. Strandesia quasirotunda Hartmann & Petersen, 1985
39. Strandesia vinciguerrae (Masi, 1905)
40. Strandesia saetosa Hartmann, 1964
41. Strandesia victori Harshey & Srinivasan, 1984
42. Tanycypris pellucida pellucida (Klie, 1932)Subfamily: Cypridinae
43. Cypris debi Deb, 1983 #
44. Cypris decaryi Gauthier, 1933
45. Cypris dravidensis Victor & Michael, 1975 #
46. Cypris elongata Deb, 1983 #
47. Cypris globosa Deb, 1983 #
48. Cypris kumari (Arora, 1931) #
49. Cypris protubera Victor & Fernando, 1978 #
50. Cypris subglobosa Sowerby, 1840
51. Pseudocypris patialaensis Battish, 1977 Subfamily: Cypridopsinae
52. Cypridopsis maduraiensis Victor & Michael, 1975
53. Klieopsis horai (Klie, 1927)
54. Plesiocypridopsis angularis (Victor & Michael, 1975)
55. Plesiocypridopsis dispar (Hartmann, 1964)
56. Plesiocypridopsis newtoni (Brady & Robertson, 1870)
57. Potamocypris dubia (Masi, 1905)
58. Potamocypris narayanani George & Martens, 2002
59. Sarscypridopsis ochracea (Sars, 1924) Subfamily Cyprinotinae
60. Cyprinotus cingalensis Brady, 1886
61. Hemicypris anomala (Klie, 1938)
62. Hemicypris arorai (Battish, 1981)
63. Hemicypris bairdi Martens & Wouters 1985
64. Hemicypris bhatiai Battish, 1981
65. Hemicypris dentatomarginata (Baird, 1859)
66. Hemicypris derweshensis Battish, 1981
67. Hemicypris dissonus Victor & Fernando, 1976
68. Hemicypris falcatus Victor & Fernando 1976
69. Hemicypris gillensis (Battish, 1981)
70. Hemicypris malerkotlaensis Battish, 1981
71. Hemicypris megalops Sars, 1903
72. Hemicypris ovata Sars, 1903
73. Hemicypris pailensis Battish, 1981
74. Hemicypris pyxidata (Moniez, 1892)
75. Heterocypris anitae Battish, 1981
76. Heterocypris aurea Sars, 1895
77. Heterocypris chandrai (Arora, 1931)
78. Heterocypris fluviatilis (Furtos, 1933)
79. Heterocypris giesbrechti (G.W. Müller, 1898)
80. Heterocypris incongruens (Ramdohr, 1808)
81. Heterocypris indica (Battish, 1981)
82. Heterocypris makua (Tressler, 1937)
83. Heterocypris malini Deb, 1983
84. Heterocypris nuda (Victor & Michael, 1975)
85. Heterocypris salina (Brady, 1868) Subfamily: Dolerocypridinae
86. Dolerocypris sinensis Sars, 1903 Subfamily: Eucypridinae
87. Eucypris biharensis Deb, 1984
88. Eucypris bispinosa (Victor & Michael, 1975)
89. Eucypris compressa Deb, 1983
90. Eucypris ellipticalis Deb, 1983
91. Eucypris gomti Deb, 1983
92. Eucypris himani Deb, 1983
93. Eucypris indica Deb, 1983
94. Eucypris inaequalis Deb, 1983
95. Eucypris munia Deb, 1983
96. Eucypris sonia Deb, 1983 Subfamily: Herpetocypridinae
97. Chrissia achandii (George & Martens, 1993)
98. Chrissia biswasi (Deb, 1972)
99. Chrissia canaliculata (Hartmann, 1964)
100. Chrissia dyalpurensis Battish, 1998
101. Chrissia fasciculata (Daday, 1910)
102. Chrissia formosa (Klie, 1938)
103. Chrissia fuelleborni (Daday, 1910)
104. Chrissia goddeerisi (George et al., 1993)
105. Chrissia halyi (Ferguson, 1969)
106. Chrissia hislopi (Ferguson, 1969)
107. Chrissia humilis (Klie, 1932)
108. Chrissia humilis indica Hartmann, 1964
109. Chrissia khopoliensis (Deb, 1983)
110. Chrissia krishnakantai (Deb, 1972)
111. Chrissia spinosa (Tressler, 1937)
112. Herpetocypris ludhianensis Battish, 1982
113. Humphcypris sewelli (Klie, 1927)
114. Stenocypris derupta Vavra, 1906
115. Stenocypris distincta Victor & Fernando, 1978
116. Stenocypris jabalpurensis Harshey & Patil, 1988
117. Stenocypris major (Baird, 1859)
118. Stenocypris sohni Deb, 1983 Subfamily: Megalocypridinae
119. Sclerocypris rajasthaniensis Deb, 1973 Family: Candonidae Subfamily: Candoninae
120. Candonopsis (Candonopsis) putealis Klie, 1932
121. Candonopsis (Candonopsis) urmilae Gupta, 1988
122. Indocandona krishnakanti Gupta, 1984
123. Indocandona nagarjuna Karanovic & Ranga Reedy, 2008 Subfamily: Cyclocypridinae
124. Cypria brevisetigera Cole, 1965
125. Cypria devai (Arora, 1931)
126. Cypria javana javana G.W. Müller, 1906
127. Cypria minutua (Victor & Michael, 1975)
128. Cypria sharmai Battish, 1985
129. Physocypria armata (G.W. Muller, 1897)
130. Physocypria crenulata (Sars, 1903)
131. Physocypria furfuracea (Brady, 1886) Family: Ilyocyprididae Subfamily: Ilyocypridinae
132. Ilyocypris australiensis Sars, 1889
133. Ilyocypris bradyi Sars, 1890
134. Ilyocypris dentifera Sars, 1903
135. Ilyocypris gibba (Ramdohr, 1808)
136. Ilyocypris mckenziei Bhatia & Mannikeri, 1975
137. Ilyocypris nagamalaiensis Victor & Michael, 1975 Family: Notodromadidae Subfamily: Indiacypridinae
138. Indiacypris chalakkudensis George & Martens, 2004.
139. Indiacypris dispar Hartman, 1964 Subfamily: Notodromadinae 
140. Centrocypris bhagirathiae Battish, 1981
141. Centrocypris horrida (Vavra, 1895)
142. Centrocypris indica Gupta, 1991
143. Centrocypris madani Battish, 1981
144. Centrocypris matthaii (Arora, 1931)
145. Gurayacypris kangraensis Battish, 1987
146. Newnhamia dumonti George & Martens, 2004
147. Newnhamia fenestrata King, 1855
148. Notodromas serrata Deb, 1984 Subfamily: Oncocypridinae 
149. Oncocypris bhatiai Battish, 1982
150. Oncocypris voeltzkowi G.W. Muller, 1898
151.  Sataracypris gibbosa (Baird, 1837) #

Super family: Darwinuloidea

Family: Darwinulidae

152. Darwinula stevensoni (Brady & Robertson, 1885)

# Uncertain species

 

 

 

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