Cytherellid species (Ostracoda) and their significance to the Late Quaternary events in the Santos Basin, Brazil

Four autochthonous cytherellid species (Cytherella serratula (BRADY, 1880), C. hermargentina WHATLEY et al. 1998, C. pleistocenica sp. nov. and C. santosensis sp. nov.) have been identified from two offshore cores (44 samples) within the Santos Basin. The distribution of these ostracodes is controlled by local hydrological conditions such as the temperature and, possibly, the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). However, these factors cannot explain completely the species occurrence in the analysed cores, and relative sea level changes and productivity variation driven by climatic changes are proposed as additional explanations for the faunal distribution pattern.