Abstract
THE primitive crustacean known as apus, or Triops cancriformis (Bosc), which is of particular interest to zoologists, has only been recorded five times in Britain. It was found in 1738 in Kent1, at the beginning of last century near Christchurch in Hampshire2, a little later at Bristol3, in 1907 in Kirkcudbrightshire4, and in 1934 near Fordingbridge in Hampshire5. Last summer, at the suggestion of Prof. J. Omer-Cooper, one of the discoverers of apus near Fordingbridge, I sought it and got it again from the same pool in which it occurred in 19346. It seems, then, as if apus were a permanent inhabitant of Britain and not merely introduced from time to time through its drought-resistant eggs being carried in mud on birds' feet. I am submitting a full account of my find for publication in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Apus may not be quite so rare in Britain as the recorded finds suggest, for Ray Lankester, in letters to Dr. W. T. Calman and Dr. R. Gurney, related that he found it on Blackheath and in Worcestershire. I should welcome news of other finds. The habitat in Hampshire is a shallow grass-bottomed pool which is waterless in dry weather.
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References
Brown, L., Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 40, 153 (1738).
Leach, W. E., Supp. to 4th, 5th and 6th editions "Encyclopædia Britannica" (1816).
Clayfield, W., specimens in British Museum (Nat. Hist.).
Balfour-Browne, F., see Gurney, R., Nature, 76, 589 (1907).
Hobson, A. D., and Omer-Cooper, J., Nature, 135, 792 (1935).
Fox, H. M., Agenda Sci. Meet. Zool. Soc. Lond., No. 2 (1948).
Scourfield, D. J., J. Quekett Micr. Club, (4), 2, 127 (1946).
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FOX, H. Apus and a Rare Cladoceran in Britain. Nature 162, 116 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162116b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162116b0
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