Javanella sanfordae, a new Cytheridae (Crustacea: Ostracoda) species with a discussion on the validity of the genus Javanella Kingma

Abstract

Javanella sanfordae, a new Cytheridae (Crustacea, Ostracoda) species, is herein described and illustrated. Among the rare fossil and recent records of Javanella, this is the first outside the southeastern Asia and Australia regions. This may indicate a migration of this genus to the Atlantic before the elevation of the Isthmus of Panama during the middle Pliocene (4 to 3 Ma) or through the Drake Passage, and its subsequent dispersion in deeper waters along the Brazilian margin.The validity of the genus Javanella as well as its zoogeographical and stratigraphical distributions are discussed.