Shallow water marine gammaridean amphipods of Pulau Tioman,Malaysia, with the description of?a?new?species

Eleven taxa including one new species of gammaridean amphipods are reported from the waters of Pulau Tioman. The presence of Tethygeneia sunda sp. n. represents the first record of the genus from the South China Sea. Additional material of Ampelisca brevicornis (Costa, 1853); Cymadusa vadosa Imbach, 1967; Paradexamine setigera Hirayama, 1984; Ericthonius pugnax (Dana, 1853); Leucothoe furina (Savigny, 1816); Microlysias xenokeras (Stebbing, 1918); Monoculodes muwoni Jo, 1990 are identified from the South China Sea, supporting previous records by Lowry (2000), Huang (1994), Imbach (1967), Margulis (1968) and Nagata (1959). Three additional species, Gitanopsis pusilla K.H. Barnard, 1916, Liljeborgia japonica Nagata, 1965b and Latigammaropsis atlantica (Stebbing, 1888), whilst previously reported from the neighbouring waters, comprise new records for the South China Sea.     

Gammaridean and caprellidean fauna from Brazil

This review of Brazilian Amphipod works is arranged in a chronological list and points out the significant works for each one of the four arbitrary periods. Besides that, this paper deals with the distribution of 83 species of Brazilian Gammaridea and Caprellidea in relation to bathymetry, substrate, latitude and thermal region.     

Comparative analysis of the circulatory system in Amphipoda (Malacostraca, Crustacea)

We present data on the haemolymph vascular system (HVS) in four representatives of the major amphipod lineages Gammaridea, Hyperiidea and Caprellidea based on corrosion casting and three‐dimensional reconstructions of histological semi‐thin sections. In all these species the HVS comprises a dorsal pulsatile heart, which is continued in the body axis by the anterior and posterior aortae. The heart is equipped with three pairs of incurrent ostia. The number of cardiac arteries that lead off the heart varies among species: in the studied Gammaridea four pairs occur, in Hyperia galba only the three posterior pairs of cardiac arteries occur, while in Caprella mutica cardiac arteries are absent. In all the studied species the posterior aorta leads as a simple tube into the pleon attached to the dorsal diaphragm. The anterior aorta runs from its origin in the anterior part of the second thoracic segment into the cephalothorax. Both pairs of antennae have an arterial supply off the anterior aorta. An overview of previously studied species including our present findings shows the amphipod HVS to be relatively uniform and the gammarid form is discussed as being closest to the ground pattern of Amphipoda.     

Global diversity of amphipods (Amphipoda; Crustacea) in freshwater

Amphipods are brooding peracaridan crustaceans whose young undergo direct development, with no independent larval dispersal stage. Most species are epibenthic, benthic, or subterranean. There are some 1,870 amphipod species and subspecies recognized from fresh or inland waters worldwide at the end of 2005. This accounts for 20% of the total known amphipod diversity. The actual diversity may still be several-fold. Amphipods are most abundant in cool and temperate environments; they are particularly diversified in subterranean environments and in running waters (fragmented habitats), and in temperate ancient lakes, but are notably rare in the tropics. Of the described freshwater taxa 70% are Palearctic, 13% Nearctic, 7% Neotropical, 6% Australasian and 3% Afrotropical. Approximately 45% of the taxa are subterranean; subterranean diversity is highest in the karst landscapes of Central and Southern Europe (e.g., Niphargidae), North America (Crangonyctidae), and Australia (Paramelitidae). The majority of Palearctic epigean amphipods are in the superfamily Gammaroidea, whereas talitroid amphipods (Hyalella) account for all Neotropic and much of the Nearctic epigean fauna. Major concentrations of endemic species diversity occur in Southern Europe, Lake Baikal, the Ponto-Caspian basin, Southern Australia (including Tasmania), and the south-eastern USA. Endemic family diversity is similarly centered in the Western Palearctic and Lake Baikal. Freshwater amphipods are greatly polyphyletic, continental invasions have taken place repeatedly in different time frames and regions of the world. In the recent decades, human mediated invasions of Ponto-Caspian amphipods have had great impacts on European fluvial ecosystems. Guest editors: E. V. Balian, C. Lévêque, H. Segers and K. Martens Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment