A revision of the genera Dulichia Krøyer and Paradulichia Boeck (Amphipoda, Podoceridae)

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Author: Laubitz, Diana R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1977
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z77-123; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z77-123

Eighteen species of Dulichia and three species of Paradulichia have been described to date, all from the northern half of the northern hemisphere.The species in genus Dulichia are herein assigned to three genera: Dulichia Krøyer with five species, of which D. wolffi is newly described; Dyopedos Bate with nine species; and a new genus Dulichiopsis with six species, of which D. barnardi is described as new. In genus Paradulichia, P. spinifera has been synonymized with P. typica, while P. secunda remains of doubtful status. Dyopedos appears to be the most primitive of the four genera, giving rise to Paradulichia on the one hand, and Dulichia and Dulichiopsis on the other. Within the Podoceridae, these four genera along with Xenodice and Neoxenodice are essentially similar, and show the development of characters that eventually gave rise to the Caprellidea.The little that is known of the ecology of these genera indicates that they occupy a niche similar to the caprellids but in deeper water. They are distributed throughout the northern boreal and arctic regions, but are predominantly Atlantic and Arctic, showing highest diversity in the European and eastern North American arctic.