257
a
c
Fig. 3. Telson profiles of Colombian species of Limnadiidae. Only females are shown (same individuals as in Fig. I). a: L. orinoquiensis; b:
E. colombiensis; c.: E. rIUlgdalenensis; d, e: E. cf geayi. Scale bar 0.4 mm.
case of the Limnadiidae(Roessler, 1989, 1990, 1991a).
The eggshell is spherical in the Colombian species of
Eulimnadia magdalenensis and E. c.f geayi, while it
is cylindrical in E. colombiensis (Fig. 4) and pyramidal in Limnadia orinoquiensis. The two spherical
egg types are easy to distinguish because the alveolar
surface has relatively smaller holes in E. magdalenensis and larger depressions with a longitudinal extension in E. c.! geayi. Belk (1989) and Martin & Belk
(1989) discuss the importance of eggshell morphology
in Eulimnadia taxonomy.
The eggshell features are not only distinctive at
the species level but also at higher taxonomic levels.
In addition to the differences noted in Limnadiidae,
differences exist within and among the Imnadiidae,
Metalimnadiidae and other families, such as the Lep-