Heteromysis (Heteromysis) cf. odontops Walker, 1898

Pesce, Giuseppe L. & Iliffe, Thomas M., 2002, New records of cave-dwelling mysids from the Bahamas and Mexico with description of Palaumysis bahamensis n. sp. (Crustacea: Mysidacea), Journal of Natural History 36 (3), pp. 265-278 : 276-277

Heteromysis (Heteromysis) cf. odontops Walker, 1898 sensu Tattersall, 1951

Syn. Heteromysis spinosus Holmes, 1900

Material examined. Exuma Islands, Bahamas: Angel fi sh Blue Hole , Stocking Island; 18 July 1998; three females (3.1-3.3 mm) collected with suction bottle approximately 360 m inside the cave at a depth of 29 m. South Andros Island, Bahamas: South Bight #2 Blue Hole , 4 October 1999; three females (3.0 - 3.5 mm), two males (3.0, 3.2 mm) and three juveniles collected with plankton net and suction bottle from surface of silty sediments in 40 m depths. Exley’ s Boiling Hole ; 5 October 1999; three females (3.6-3.8 mm) collected with plankton net and suction bottle from water column and surface of silty sediment in 60-70 m depths.

Remarks. This stygophilic species was described by Walker (1898) based on material from Puget Sound. Successively, Holmes (1900) described a very similar species, Heteromysis spinosus , from California; W. M. Tattersall (1951) describing material from West Coast of Panama synonymized the latter with H. odontops , pointing out as well some negligible differences between the two taxa. Later, O. S. Tattersall (1967) transferred H. odontops described by W. M. Tattersall from Panama to a new species, H. panamensis .

Our material from Bahamas is very close to the species odontops Walker, 1898 and Tattersall (1951), differing only by minor characteristics, which could well fi t the wide variability of this species. The lack of su ffi cient number of specimens, especially males, causes us to ascribe provisionally our material to H. odontops .