Pleistocene and recent species of the family Darwinulidae Brady & Norman, 1889 (Crustacea, Ostracoda) in Europe

Six species in two genera of Darwinulidae are here reported from Europe; two of these are known from fossils only. Microdarwinula zimmeri (Menzel) is, in Europe, an interstitial species. Darwinula stevensoni (Brady & Robertson), the type species of the genus, is also the most common darwinulid. Although it abounds in the shallow littoral of lakes, it can also occur in rivers, bogs and springs, both in fresh and saline waters. Darwinula boteai Danielopol is found in interstitial habitats in Rumania. Darwinula pagliolii Pinto & Kotzian, originally described from Recent South American populations, is reported from fossil, German localities. Darwinula brasiliensis Pinto & Kotzian, originally described as D. africana brasiliensis, also from South America, is here elevated to specific rank. It has been found extant in a bog in southern France and is reported from a museum collection from a Scottish lake. The latter species is here reported from Europe for the first time. Finally, Darwinula danielopoli n.sp. is also described from German Holocene (Subrecent) fossils. This species represents the first nominal taxon of a distinctly separate lineage within Darwinula s.l. Global and European distribution, history, ecological tolerance ranges, brooding and clonal taxonomy in this group are discussed.