A NEW AMERICAN FAIRY SHRIMP, LINDERIELLA-SANTAROSAE (CRUSTACEA, ANOSTRACA, LINDERIELLIDAE), FROM VERNAL POOLS OF CALIFORNIA, USA

A new species of fairy shrimp, Linderiella santarosae (Anostraca: Lind eriellidae), is described from vernal pools on the Santa Rosa Plateau Reserve, Riverside Co., California, U.S.A. The form of the basal outgr owth on antenna 2 of males and the spines on the resting eggs are the primary characters which distinguish L. santarosae from the other Lind eriella species of western North America, northwestern Africa and sout hwestern Europe. Linderiella santarosae is also distinguished from L. occidentalis, the other Californian species, by fixed differences at t wo electrophoretic loci (PGM and PEP-D). The distribution of the five known species, each locally endemic to Mediterranean climatic regions, may be linked to a wider distribution of the genus in the past across the Laurasian continent.