Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890

Paz-Ríos, Carlos E., Guerra-García, José M. & Ardisson, Pedro-Luis, 2014, REVIEW ARTICLE Caprellids (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from the Gulf of Mexico, with observations on Deutella mayeri, redescription of Metaprotella hummelincki, a taxonomic key and zoogeographical comments, Journal of Natural History 48 (41 - 42), pp. 2517-2578 : 2539-2540

Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890

( Figure 9 )

Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890: 40 , pl. 1, figs 25–27, pl. 3 figs 32–35, pl. 5, figs 52, 53, pl. 6, figs 13, 33, 34, pl. 7, fig. 4. McCain, 1968: 61–64, figs 29, 30. McCain and Steinberg, 1970: 51. Gable and Lazo-Wasem, 1987: 637. Serejo, 1997: 630–632, fig. 1. Ortiz et al., 2002, fig. 32. Guerra-García, 2003c: 6–7, fig. 3; 2003d: 105–106, fig. 10. Foster, Thomas, et al., 2004: 161, 163, fig. 3. Guerra-García, 2004: 39–40, fig. 32. Diaz et al., 2005: 3, 5–6, 18, fig. 9. Krapp-Schickel and Guerra-García, 2005: 50–51, fig. 3. Guerra-García, 2006: 443, fig. 43. Guerra-García, Krapp-Schickel, et al., 2006: 171–174, figs 14–16. Winfield, Escobar-Briones, et al., 2007: 47, fig. 15. Guerra-García and Lowry, 2009: 295–297, fig. 3. Guerra-García et al., 2010: 303–304, fig. 6.

Hemiaegina quadripunctata Sundara Raj, 1927: 126 , pl. 8.

Hemiaegina costai Quitete, 1972: 165–168 , pls. 1, 2.

Material examined

Station 11, 17 females (13 ovigerous), CYMX-12- CY. Station 12, six females (four ovigerous), CYMX-13- CY. Station 29, two males, four females (one female from this station used for figure), CYMX-51- CY. Station 30, one male, CYMX-52- CY (used for figure) .

Type locality

Off Amoy, China.

Distribution

Widely distributed in tropical and temperate waters worldwide ( McCain 1968; Guerra-García and Lowry 2009; Guerra-García et al. 2010): Indo-Pacific; West and East Atlantic; Mediterranean.

Records in the Gulf of Mexico

MEX: Campeche Sound ( Winfield et al. 2006); Alacranes Reef; Cabo Catoche (present study). USA: Port Aransas ( Steinberg and Dougherty 1957); off Pensacola– 29°44′ N, 88°25.5′ W; Loggerhead Key ( McCain 1968); Biloxi Bay ( Pederson and Peterson 2002); St Joseph Bay (Foster, Thomas, et al. 2004).

Habitat

This species has been found on many different substrata ( Guerra-García and Lowry 2009; Guerra-García et al. 2010): pelagic Sargassum sp. , plankton tows, on the bivalve Arca zebra , in green, brown and red algae, sponges, tunicates, hydroids, seagrasses, dead corals encrusted with algal turf, and under small boulders. The depth range reported is shallow water extending to 354 m ( Winfield et al. 2006; Winfield and Escobar-Briones 2008; LeCroy et al. 2009).

Remarks

The genus is currently monotypic. Hemiaegina minuta is easily identified by the following characteristics: hexagonal outline of the pereonites in dorsal view, third article of antenna 1 short, antenna 2 without swimming setae, gnathopod 1 propodus with a round projection proximally, and abdomen with a distinctive pair of twoarticulate appendages ( McCain 1968; Guerra-García, Krapp-Schickel, et al. 2006).

Figures

Figure 9. Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890. Yucatan, Mexico; male, CYMX-52-CY; female, CYMX-51-CY. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.