Twenty eight species (25 new) in twenty genera in five families of myodocopid Ostracoda are described and illustrated from collections made mostly at shelf and upper bathyal depths in the northeastern end of Mozambique channel, primarily from the vicinity of Mayotte (Comoro Islands) and the Glorioso Islands, Geyser, Leven, and Zelee banks (Madagascar). All specimens were collected by French personnel during the Benthédi Expedition, 1977, under the auspices of three French institutions: Station Marine d'Endoume, University d'Aix-Marseille; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Centre National pour l'Exploration des Océans. The ontogeny is described for three new species of Conodocera, Rutiderma and Synasterope, and a graph is presented showing the approximate relationships between the percentage of myodocopid species worldwide having lateral eyes and the depth of water in which they live. A possible relationship between morphology, locomotion, and the mating habit is discussed for the genus Harbansus.