Atlas of Atlantic Ostracods
Taxon details
Paramollicia major (Müller, G.W., 1906)
- Order:
- MYODOCOPA
- Suborder:
- Halocypridina
- Family:
- Halocyprididae
- Subfamily:
- Conchoecinae
- Size range (females):
- 3.3-3.6 mm
- Size range (males):
- 3.1-3.3 mm
- Depth:
- bathypelagic
Notes
46 records
When Müller (1906) described Conchoecia plactolycos he noted there were two sizes, a smaller form with a male 2.3mm long (var. typica) and a larger form with female 3.4mm long and a male 3.3mm long (var. Deevey (1974) raised var. major, which is a Southern Ocean species, to a full specific rank. Müller (1906) had tentatively placed the species in his ’mollis group’, but Poulsen classified all the four of Müller’s tentative ‘Mollis’ group species in a new genus Paramollicia – a rather artificial grouping.
The latitudinal range for this species is 66°S to 44°N, but there is a wide latitudinal gap between 20°S and 30°N, so the Northern and Southern Hemisphere specimens may not con-specific. Certainly the North Atlantic specimens that are caught at depths of >1500m are slightly smaller than the typically sized species caught in the Southern Ocean, which also occur at depths >1000m. Chavtur (1976) also reports it as occurring widely in the North Pacific, but again the con-specificity of the North Atlantic and North Pacific forms needs to be critically examined.
| Southern O. | n | Mean mm | s.d. | Range mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 94 | 3.42 | 0.085 | 3.16-3.60 |
| Male | 21 | 3.14 | 0.078 | 2.92-3.28 |
| A-1 | 21 | 2.46 | 0.079 | 2.28-2.60 |
| A-2 | 1 | 1.68 |
