The first Arctic conspicuously coloured Pleusymtes (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Pleustidae) associated with sea anemones in the Barents Sea

The article presents a potentially obligate association of a pleustid amphipod of the genus Pleusymtes (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Pleustidae) with the large sea anemone Urticina eques (Gosse, 1858) (Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Actiniidae) from shallow waters of the Barents Sea. The new species shows a conspic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European Journal of Taxonomy
Main Authors: Ivan N. Marin, Sergey Yu. Sinelnikov, Tatiana I. Antokhina
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Consortium of European Natural History Museums 2022
Subjects:
biodiversity
Pleustidae
symbiosis
Anthozoa
Arctic
Zoology
QL1-991
Botany
QK1-989
Barents Sea
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.819.1789
https://doaj.org/article/5587f10514024e3cab7849454d65e329
Description
Summary:The article presents a potentially obligate association of a pleustid amphipod of the genus Pleusymtes (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Pleustidae) with the large sea anemone Urticina eques (Gosse, 1858) (Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Actiniidae) from shallow waters of the Barents Sea. The new species shows a conspicuously striped (disruptive or aposematic) colouration, unlike other Arctic species of the genus, which shows a potential for its permanent connection with anemones. It is possible that this is the first known possibly obligatory anemone-associated species, within the genus and the family Pleustidae. The article discusses the taxonomy, morphological differences from congeners and ecological features of the new species, as well as the known symbiotic associations of sea anemones (as hosts) in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters.

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