The occurrence of a new species of Gomphocythere (Ostracoda, Limnocytheridae) in the Holocene of SE Turkey: the northernmost record for the genus

Abstract. A new species of the genus Gomphocythere (Sars, 1924) from SE Turkey extends the known Holocene biogeographical range of this taxon northwards by 500 km although only sub-fossil remains have been discovered so far. The species has been recorded previously in open nomenclature, from a middle Pleistocene site in northern Israel but the genus Gomphocythere is particularly abundant and diverse in the large lakes of South and East Africa (e.g. Lakes Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria). The closest relative of the new species, based on external carapace characteristics, is known to be alive today along one of the sources of the River Jordan, central Israel. This suggests the presence of a geographically distinct ‘northern group’ of Gomphocythere separated from the majority of known occurrences in eastern and southern Africa.