Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Title

Taxonomic Review and Ultrastructural Analysis of the Commensal Amphipod genus Paraleucothoe (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Author

Magdalena Kwapinska, Nova Southeastern University

Defense Date

12-30-2009

Document Type

Thesis - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

M.S. Marine Biology

Second Degree Name

M.S. Coastal Zone Management

Department

Oceanographic Center

First Advisor

James D. Thomas

Second Advisor

Charles G. Messing

Third Advisor

Patricia Blackwelder

Abstract

A re-examination of the genera Leucothoe and Paraleucothoe through a literature review was performed. Specimens of a suspected invasive amphipod initially identified as Paraleucothoe flindersi collected from a host sponge Mycale sp. Gray, 1867, in Hawaiian coastal waters by D.G. Muir (Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai’i) (Muir, 1997) were also examined for the purpose of their proper identification and to determine whether they are native or invasive to Hawai’i.

Published research suggests that, L. novaehollandiae Haswell, 1880, L. brevidigitata Miers, 1884, and P. flindersi (Stebbing, 1888) appear to be the same species, although their exact taxonomic placement remains uncertain. Careful reexamination revealed each to be distinct, all differing from the Hawaiian species examined here.

Detailed examination using both light and scanning electron microscopy and comparison with P. flindersi P. spinicarpus (Abildgaard, 1789), P. commensalis (Haswell, 1879 a), L. novaehollandiae, L. brevidigitata, and L. lihue Barnard, 1970, determined that the Hawaiian specimens represent a new undescribed species of Leucothoe.

NSUWorks Citation

Magdalena Kwapinska. 2009. Taxonomic Review and Ultrastructural Analysis of the Commensal Amphipod genus Paraleucothoe (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Master's thesis. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Oceanographic Center. (233)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_stuetd/233.