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Mystacocarida are interstitial Crustaceans, part of the Meiobenthos. Their taxonomy is extremely
conservative, superficially all mystacocarids look alike. There are only 12
described species divided between two genera, Derocheilocaris and
Ctenocheilocharis.
South American Mystacocarida
This mystacocarid was found in the zone of retention at Playa Ritoque in
Region V, Chile (pictured below). All the Mystacocarida from South
America reported sofar have been of the genus Ctenocheilocaris
(Hessler,1988)so it is assumed that this is the genus of
the individual pictured above. Mystacocarida have been observed in samples
from Playa Grande (Las Cruces) and Curiñanco (near Valdivia).
Zinn et al.(1982)give a bibliography for the Mystacocarida.
References
Hessler, R.R. (1988) Mystacocarida In: Higgins, R.P. & Thiel, H.
Introduction to the study of meiofauna. Smithsonian
Institution Press. ISBN 0-87474-488-1
Zinn, D.S., Found, B.W. & Kraus, M.G. (1982) A bibliography of the
Mystacocarida. Crustaceana, 43:270-274.
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