Abstract
TERRESTRIAL ostracods have been known since 1953 from South Africa when Dr. R. F. Lawrence found specimens of Mesocypris terrestris Harding, in the humus of the Knysna forest1. Although there is no published record they have been found on several occasions in New Zealand, also in forest litter. Specimens from Leith Saddle, Dunedin, have recently been extracted alive by slowly drying out litter in a Berlese funnel, with a water-jacket maintained at a temperature of 40° C. and with the end leading into water, not alcohol. The temperature must be low to prevent the ostracods closing their valves and remaining immobile, and this is probably the reason why they have been found so infrequently. The animals are easily kept alive in a small dish lined with moist filter paper, and with a few fragments of humus to provide food and shelter.
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Harding, J. P., Ann. Natal Mus., 12, 359 (1953).
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CHAPMAN, A. Terrestrial Ostracods of New Zealand. Nature 185, 121 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/185121a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/185121a0
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