Crescenticythere, a new enigmatic ostracode from the Tertiary of New Zealand

Extract

During examination of the large ostracode assemblage collections at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Geology & Geophysics, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, a single specimen of unusual shape was encountered. So unusual is the crescentic outline and infolding of the entire shell periphery that assignment even to a phylum was difficult, and it was only upon scanning electron microscopic study that subcentral muscle scars were clearly observed and these enabled confident identification of the specimen as an ostracode. One specimen is not usually considered sufficient to propose a new taxon; however, in this case there is no doubt that this unique specimen clearly represents a new species, genus, and probably family of Ostracoda. A search for additional specimens from the type unit is underway, but has, as yet, been unsuccessful to find this rare intriguing ostracode. Unlike other unusual ostracodes described from the Southern Hemisphere such as the punciids, this specimen appears to have no similarity with Paleozoic taxa.