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World Amphipoda Database(part of WoRMS - the World Register of Marine Species) IntroductionThe amphipods belong to the very diverse crustacean class Malacostraca, which includes other common groups such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp. The order Amphipoda is part of the superorder Peracarida, uniting a diverse group of small shrimp-like taxa that brood their young in a pouch, with no independent larval dispersal stage. Amphipods are unique in the possession of three pairs of pleopods and three pairs of uropods. In a small minority of cases secondary reduction of the abdomen may result in a loss of one or more pairs (e.g. the Caprellidae). No other malacostracan group possesses more than one pair of uropods. The name Amphipoda means ‘different feet’ and refers to the different forms of the pereopods (legs) which contrasts with the related Isopoda meaning ‘same feet’. Amphipods are variously known as, scuds, shrimp or sideswimmers. Those amphipods that have colonised the land are often referred to as landhoppers and beach dwellers are called sandhoppers or beach/sand fleas. The order Amphipoda is very diverse and currently contains 10,618 species which are divided into six suborders:
Amphipods range in size from a millimetre in length to the supergiant amphipod Alicella gigantea at 340 mm. Amphipods can be found in all marine habitats (even the deepest ocean trenches e.g. Hirondellea dubia), and have also colonised freshwaters and terrestrial habitats; even ectoparasitic groups are also known among them. There are at least 1870 amphipod species and subspecies recorded from fresh or inland waters accounting for ~ 20 % of the total known amphipod diversity. Amphipods are important herbivores, detritivores, micropredators and scavengers in most environments and they form an important component of marine and freshwater ecosystems. History of the databaseThe World Amphipoda Database arose from a merger in 2010 of the World Amphipoda List compiled over many years by Jim Lowry (Australian Museum), with the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) amphipod list, compiled by Mark Costello with the help of Denise Bellan-Santini and Jean-Claude Dauvin, and edited up until 2013 with significant additions from the RAMS Amphipoda (Antarctic) list (compiled by Claude De Broyer) and from other regional editors. The original editors of Amphipoda within WoRMS were Mark Costello, Denise Bellan-Santini, Jean Claude-Dauvin, & Wim Vader, with Claude de Broyer as Editor of the Register of Antarctic Marine Species (RAMS) Amphipoda. The north-Atlantic lists were compiled by Mark Costello with assistance from Louise Collier, from Costello et al. (1989), Brattegard (1997) and Vader et al (1997). The Mediterranean and south Atlantic lists were compiled from Bellan-Santini et al. (1998), Marques and Bellan-Santini (1990, 1991), and Lopes et al. (1993). Additional species were then found in Dauvin (1999), and for Arctic seas, in Palerud and Vader (1991) and Vader (1998). Jim Lowry’s unpublished list was added to WoRMS in 2010 when he became editor of the Amphipoda. To provide sufficient expert knowledge for maintaining the database, we have now (2013) formed an editorial team to whom the queries on particular taxa should be addressed. Editorial Team:Coordinating Editors
Editors [tree]
Links to other Amphipod sitesFeedbackThe authors welcome input from visitors to this website who detect errors or omissions: we strive to maintain the website as both a comprehensive and an up-to-date resource. We aim to update the database regularly and frequently. The taxonomy in the World Amphipod Database is edited and updated by volunteer experts, assisted by the database management team at VLIZ. Authors are encouraged to send copies of publications to the respective editor with details of new or revised nomenclature. AcknowledgementsIn addition to the editors listed above, numerous colleagues have kindly provided input and corrections for content in the World Amphipoda Database, an effort which is gratefully acknowledged here.
ReferencesBellan-Santini, D, Karaman G.S., Ledoyer, M., Myers, A.A., Ruffo, S. and Vader, W. 1998. The Amphipoda of the Mediterranean, Part 4. Memoires de 1 'lnstitut Oceanographique, Monaco 13: XXVII- XLIV, 815-959. Bellan-Santini, D. and Dauvin J.C. 1997. Ampeliscidae (Amphipoda) from Iceland with a description of a new species (contribution to the BIOICE research programme). Journal of Natural History 31: 1157-1173. Brattegard, T. 1997. Order Amphipoda, Suborder Caprellidea (Phylum Crustacea) - caprellidean amphipods or skeleton shrimps. In: Brattegard, T., Holthe, T. (editors), Distribution of marine, benthic macro-organisms in Norway. A tabulated catalogue. Directorate for Nature Management, Trondheim, 23-214. Costello, M.J., Holmes, J.M.C., McGrath, D. and Myers, A.A. 1989. A review and catalogue of the Amphipoda (Crustacea) in Ireland. Irish Fisheries Investigations, Series B (Marine), No.33: 1-70. Dauvin J.C. 1999. Mise it jour de la Iiste des especes d'Amphipodes (Crustaces Peracarides) presents en Manche. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 40: 165-183. Lopes, M.F.R., Marques, J.C. and Bellan-Santini, D. 1993. The benthic amphipod fauna of the Azores (Portugal): an up-to date annotated list of species, and some biogeographic considerations. Crustaceana 65: 204-217. Marques, J.C. and Bellan-Santini, D. 1993. Biodiversity in the ecosystem of the Portuguese continental shelf: distributional ecology and the role of benthic amphipods. Marine Biology 115: 555-564. Palerud R. and Vader W. 1991 . Marine Amphipoda Gammaridea in North-East Atlantic and Norwegian Arctic. Tromura 68: 97 pp. Vader W. 1998. Checklist of Amphipoda Gammaroidea ill Barents Sea area. Vader, W., Brattegard, T., Buhl-Mortensen, L. and Larsen, K. M. 1997. Order Amphipoda, Suborder Gammaridea (Phylum Crustacea) - gammaridean amphipods. In: Brattegard, T., HoIthe, T. (editors). Distribution of marine, benthic macro-organisms in Norway. A tabulated catalogue. Directorate for Nature Management, Trondheim, 191-212. CitationUsage of data from the World Amphipoda Database in scientific publications should be acknowledged by citing as follows:
Individual pages are individually authored and dated. These can be cited separately: the proper citation is provided at the bottom of each page. |