Published December 31, 2016 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Elasmopus alalo Myers 1986

Authors/Creators

Description

Elasmopus alalo Myers, 1986

(Figs 1–3)

Elasmopus pseudaffinis Barnard, 1965: 501, figs 12, 13.— Ledoyer, 1972: 219, pls 38, 39.— Ledoyer, 1978:273, fig. 20a (in part).— Berents, 1983: 118, figs 15, 16.— Ledoyer, 1983: 480, figs 181, 182.— Ledoyer, 1984: 65, fig. 30b.— Ren, 1998: 203 –205, fig. 6.

Elasmopus alalo Myers, 1986: 273, figs 4, 5.— Myers, 1995: 27.— Lowry and Stoddart, 2003: 177.— Lowry & Hughes, 2009: 646 –649, figs 1, 2.— Hughes & Lowry, 2011: 583,584.— Krapp-Schickel & Muller, 2011: 1, 2, figs. 1, 2.— Vader & Krapp-Schickel, 2012: 1196 (key).— Hughes, 2015: 90, fig. 7.

Material. 15 males, 24 females (OUMNH.ZC. 2002-24 -141), Pkuklim Reef, Halimeda clumps on reef rubble, from Halimeda (Chlorophyta) washings, - 6 m depth; 07°20.542'N, 134°34.023'E; leg. S. De Grave & C. Burras, 29 May 2002; 1 male (OUMNH.ZC 2002-24 -142), Ikedluches Reef, outer rubble slope, from Litophyton sp. (Alcyonacea: Nephtheidae), - 20 m depth; 07°17.987'N, 134°28.756'E; leg. S. De Grave & C. Burras, 25 May 2002; 2 females (OUMNH.ZC. 2002-24 -143), Lighthouse Reef, outer side, from rubble (mainly Acropora plates and bushy forms, heavily encrusted), - 5 m depth; 07°16.615'N, 134°27.606'E; leg. S. De Grave & C. Burras, 21 May 2002.

Remarks. Elasmopus alalo Myers, 1996 is apparently widespread from Madagascar through Indonesia, Australasia and the western Pacific to the Society Islands. It is possible that this taxon represents a species flock. Type material as well as material from Lizard Island (Lowry & Hughes 2009) has smooth posterior margins to the basis of pereopods 5 to 7. Present material has serrated posterior margins to these appendages, as has material from the Society Islands (Krapp-Schickel & Muller 2011). Type material as well as material from the Society Islands (Krapp-Schickel & Muller 2011) has rounded telsonic apices, whereas present material, as well as that from Lizard Island (Lowry & Hughes 2009) and from New Caledonia (Ledoyer, 1974) has acute apices to the telson. The various combinations of characters makes it difficult to separate the materials into different taxonomic units. Type material was very large (12.5 mm), that of Lowry & Hughes (2009), was 11.5 mm, that of Hughes & Lowry (2011) was 8–9 mm, that of Ledoyer (1984), 8.0 mm, that of Krapp-Schickel & Muller (2011), 6.00–7.00 mm, while present material is smaller at 6.0 mm.

Distribution. Timor, Australia, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Madagascar, Mauritius, New Caledonia, Society Islands, South China Sea, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Palau (current study).

Notes

Published as part of Myers, A. A., 2016, Amphipoda (Crustacea) from Palau, Micronesia: Families Maeridae and Melitidae, pp. 451-474 in Zootaxa 4170 (3) on pages 452-454, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4170.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/272428

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Myers
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Amphipoda
Family
Melitidae
Genus
Elasmopus
Species
alalo
Taxon rank
species
Type status
holotype
Taxonomic concept label
Elasmopus alalo Myers, 1986 sec. Myers, 2016

References

  • Myers, A. A. (1986) Amphipoda from the South Pacific: Tonga. Records of the Australian Museum, 38 (5), 271 - 289.
  • Barnard, J. L. (1965) Marine Amphipoda of atolls in Micronesia. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 117, 459 - 551.
  • Ledoyer, M. (1972) Amphipodes gammariens vivant dans les alveoles des constrictions organogenes recifales intertidales de la region de Tulear (Madagascar). Etude systematique et ecologique. Tethys Supplement, 3, 165 - 285.
  • Ledoyer, M. (1978) Amphipodes gammariens (Crustacea) des biotopes cavitaires organogenes recifaux de l'ile Maurice (Ocean Indien). The Mauritius Institute Bulletin, 8 (3), 197 - 332.
  • Berents, P. B. (1983) The Melitidae of Lizard Island and adjacent reefs, The Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Records of the Australian Museum, 35, 101 - 143.
  • Ledoyer, M. (1983) Crustaces amphipodes gammariens. Familles des Acanthonotozomatidae a Gammaridae. Faune de Madagascar, 59 (1), 1 - 598.
  • Ledoyer, M. (1984) Les gammariens (Crustacea, Amphipoda) des herbiers de phanerogames marines de Nouvelle Caledonie (region de Noumea). Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Series A, Zoology, 129, 1 - 113.
  • Ren, X. (1998) Studies on family Melitidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Nansha Islands, South China Sea. Studies on Marine Fauna and Flora and Biogeography of the Nansha Islands and Neighboring Waters, 3, 193 - 218.
  • Myers, A. A. (1995) Marine Amphipoda of Micronesia: Kosrae. Records of the Australian Museum, 47, 27 - 38.
  • Lowry, J. K. & Stoddart, H. E. (2003) Crustacea: Malacostraca: Peracarida: Amphipoda, Cumacea, Mysidacea. Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.
  • Lowry, J. K. & Hughes, L. E. (2009) Maeridae, the Elasmopus group. In: Lowry, J. K. & Myers, A. A. (Eds.), (2009) Benthic Amphipoda (Crustacea: Peracarida) of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Zootaxa, 2260, 643 - 702.
  • Hughes, L. E & Lowry, J. K. (2011) The genus Elasmopus (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Maeridae) in Australian waters. Journal of Natural History, 45 (9), 579 - 628.
  • Krapp-Schickel, T & Muller, H - G. (2011) Known and unknown hadzioidean amphipods (Crustacea) from Polynesia with Elasmopus polynesus sp. nov. and Kairos segregans gen. nov. sp. nov. Marine Biodiversity Records, 4, 1 - 14.
  • Vader, W. & Krapp-Schickel, T. (2012) On some maerid and melitid material (Crustacea: Amphipoda) collected by the Hourglass Cruises (Florida). Part 2: Genera Dulichiella and Elasmopus, with a key to world Elasmopus. Journal of Natural History, 46, 19 - 20, 1179 - 1218. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1080 / 00222933.2011.652984
  • Hughes, L. E. (2015) Ampithoidae and Maeridae Amphipods from Timor-Leste (Crustacea: Peracarida). Records of the Australian Museum, 67 (3), 83 - 108. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.3853 / j. 2201 - 4349.67.2015.1644