Africorchestia Lowry & Coleman, 2011

Lowry, J. K. & Baldanzi, S., 2016, New talitrids from South Africa (Amphipoda, Senticaudata, Talitroidea, Talitridae) with notes on their ecology, Zootaxa 4144 (2), pp. 151-174 : 152

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4144.2.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3A7B0E6F-F553-48E9-B640-2BED0DF598F7

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3512738

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/54525029-FF8C-6E14-FF04-FE1C26CEDEC4

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Africorchestia Lowry & Coleman, 2011
status

 

Africorchestia Lowry & Coleman, 2011 View in CoL

Africorchestia Lowry & Coleman, 2011: 56 View in CoL View Cited Treatment .

Type species. Orchestia spinifera Mateus, 1962 , original designation.

Included species. Africorchestia includes 5 species: A. fischeri (H. Milne Edwards, 1830) ; A. meridionalis sp. nov.; A. quadrispinosa ( K.H. Barnard, 1916) ; A. skoogi (Stebbing, 1922) ; A. spinifera (Mateus, 1962) ; A. tricornuta ( Shoemaker, 1920) .

Ecological type. Sand-hoppers (supralittoral, substrate-modifying talitrids of sandy beaches).

Diagnostic description. Head. Eye large (greater than 1/3 head length). Antenna 1 short, not longer than peduncular article 4 of antenna 2. Antenna 2 peduncular articles slender; peduncular article 3 without plate or process ventrally. Labrum epistome without robust setae. Mandible left lacinia mobilis 5-cuspidate. Maxilliped palp article 2 with distomedial lobe; article 4 fused with article 3.

Pereon. Gnathopod 1 sexually dimorphic; parachelate; posterior margin of carpus and propodus each with lobe covered in palmate setae; dactylus longer than palm, palm transverse. Gnathopod 2 subchelate; posterior margin of merus, carpus and propodus each without lobe covered in palmate setae; dactylus not modified distally, blunt; carpus longer than propodus; palm extremely acute; dactylus longer than propodus. Pereopods 3–7 bicuspidactylate. Pereopod 4 dactylus thickened proximally with notch midway along posterior margin. Pereopod 5 dactylus long, slender, not inflated or short, inflated. Pereopods 6–7 with row of short setae along the posterior margin of the dactyli. Pereopod 6 sexually dimorphic (basis broadly expanded), longer than pereopod 7. Pereopod 7 not sexually dimorphic (no articles expanded); propodus setation without large distal tuft of setae. Female: oostegites setae with simple smooth tips.

Pleon. Pleonites 1–3 with dorsal spines. Pleopods all well developed. Epimera 1–3 slits absent. Uropod 1 peduncle distolateral robust seta absent, rami with or without apical spear-shaped setae; inner ramus with marginal robust setae in 2 rows; outer ramus with marginal robust setae in one row. Uropod 2 rami with or without apical spear-shaped setae. Inner ramus with marginal robust setae in 2 rows; outer ramus with marginal robust setae in 1 row. Uropod 3 ramus subequal in length to or longer than peduncle. Telson broader than long, tapering distally or rounded distally. Telson apically incised or entire.

Remarks. In the original diagnosis of Africorchestia the maxillipedal palp article 4 was considered to be reduced and button-shaped, but new scanning electron micrographs show that it is fused to maxillipedal palp article 3.

Africorchestia View in CoL is the only known talitrid genus with dorsal spines on pleonites 1–3. It shares with Pseudorchestoidea Bousfield, 1982 a View in CoL row of short setae on the posterior margin of the dactyli of pereopods 6–7. At least one species of Africorchestia View in CoL , A. tricornuta ( Shoemaker, 1920) View in CoL has apical spear-shaped setae on the rami of uropods 1–2, an apparent powerful synapomorphy that it shares with Americorchestia Bousfield, 1991 View in CoL , Pseudorchestoidea View in CoL , and Sardorchestia Ruffo, 2004 View in CoL . Another species, Africorchestia skoogi (Stebbing, 1922) View in CoL has an inflated dactylus on pereopod 5, an apparent powerful synapomorphy that it shares with Britorchestia Lowry & Bopiah, 2012 View in CoL , Pseudorchestoidea View in CoL and Sardorchestia View in CoL .

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Malacostraca

Order

Amphipoda

Family

Talitridae

Loc

Africorchestia Lowry & Coleman, 2011

Lowry, J. K. & Baldanzi, S. 2016
2016
Loc

Africorchestia

Lowry 2011: 56
2011
GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF