Candonidae Kaufmann 1900

Candonidae gen. indet. sp. Figs. 2, 5C–J. Material. Ten carapaces. Dimensions. L: 0.40–0.47 mm, H: 0.22–0.28 mm, W: 0.16–0.19 mm. Description. Small sized carapace with thin-shelled and a long-oval shape in lateral view. Maximum length at 1/2 of height, maximum height at middle of maximum length, and maximum width at mid-length. LV larger than RV; LV overlapping RV along all margins, with strong valve overlapping in ventral area. Both anterior and posterior margins equicurvate and rounded. Surface smooth. Remarks. In China, numerous studies have classified ostracod specimens similar to the specimens of this study, characterized by a small, thin-shelled, long-oval carapace shape, with the LV overlapping RV along all margins and both anterior and posterior margins rounded, under the genus Candoniella Schneider, 1956 (e.g., Zhang 1985, 1987; Ye et al. 2002; see Hou et al. 2002 for a review). However, Danielopol et al. (2022) argue that the genus Candoniella Schneider, 1956 is an invalid genus and that it represents a taxonomic chimera, an artifact in which juveniles of species from different Candoninae genera are amalgamated into a single taxon. It implies that all described Candoniella species require a comprehensive reassessment; to address this problem, more detailed taxonomic work and a wide morphological analysis of all specimens from the genus Candoniella are required, however, is out of our topic of present work. The studied specimens may represent juvenile individuals of a certain Candoninae genus or species. However, due to the limited number of specimens and the lack of evidence for continuous morphological changes during ontogeny, they can only be identified to the family level without determining the genus and species.