Mictocaris

Mictocaris halope
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 2.3) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Mictacea
Family:	Mictocarididae Bowman & Iliffe, 1985
Genus:	Mictocaris Bowman & Iliffe, 1985
Species:	M. halope
Binomial name
Mictocaris halope Bowman & Iliffe, 1985

Mictocaris halope is a species of freshwater crustacean, which is endemic to Bermuda. It is the only species in the genus Mictocaris,^[2] and the family Mictocarididae.^[3]

It is 3.0–3.5 millimetres (0.12–0.14 in) long and is reflective. It is native to four anchialine limestone caves in Bermuda: it was first discovered by divers in Crystal Cave, and then further populations were found in Green Bay Cave (South Harrington Sound Passage and North Shore Passage), Roadside Cave and Tucker's Town Cave.^[4]

Mictocaris is rarely encountered because it lives only in deep waters in the interior sections of the caves. It avoids sunlight and remains in isolated parts of the cave.^[5] It is usually seen swimming, but on rare occasions can be found resting or walking on a rock. When relocated into an aquarium they prefer the walls and surfaces of the glass.^[5] It is unknown what Mictocaris eats, but it has developed powerful molar and mandible muscles which allows them to chew productively.^[5] When originally found, the divers collected 56 specimens of Mictocaris, which can now be found in the National Museum of Natural History.^[5]

References

1. ^ T. M. Iliffe (1996). "Mictocaris halope". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/13520. Retrieved 15 November 2010. 
2. ^ Damià Jaume, Joan E Cartes & Geoffrey A. Boxshal (2000). "Shallow-water and not deep-sea as most plausible origin for cave-dwelling Paramisophria species (Copepoda: Calanoida: Arietellidae), with description of three new species from Mediterranean bathyal hyperbenthos and littoral caves". Contributions to Zoology 68 (4): 205–244. http://dpc.uba.uva.nl/ctz/vol68/nr04/art01. 
3. ^ J. K. Lowry & M. Yerman. "Mictacea: Species". crustacea.net. Australian Museum. http://www.crustacea.net/crustace/mictacea/chcklst.htm. Retrieved 3 September 2007. 
4. ^ Thomas E. Bowman & Thomas M. Iliffe (1985). "Mictocaris halope, a new unusual percaridan crustacean from marine caves on Bermuda". Journal of Crustacean Biology 5 (1): 58–73. doi:10.2307/1548220. JSTOR 1548220. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Thomas M. Iliffe (25 October 2010). "Mictocaris halope Bowman & Iliffe, 1985". Anchialine Caves and Cave Fauna of the World. Texas A&M University at Galveston. http://www.tamug.edu/cavebiology/fauna/mictaceans/M_halope.html. Retrieved 15 November 2010.