Family MAXILLIPIIDAE Ledoyer, 1973

Maxillipius rectitelson

© Copyright from Coleman, 2009: fig. 1

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Introduction

Maxillipiids were only discovered in the early 1970’s living in seagrass beds in Madagascar. Since then they have been reported from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and the Great Barrier Reef. They appear to be a tropical Indo West-Pacific group also reported as associates of gorgonians by Lowry (1984) and Thomas (1996). Thomas (1996) made detailed observations on the behavior and ecology of Maxillipius commensalis Lowry, 1984. The species recently reported from the Great Barrier Reef, Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973, by Coleman (2009) was originally reported from Madagascar by Ledoyer (1973). It has also been reported from Hainan in the South China Sea (Ren, 1998). Maxillipiids are distinguished by their dorsoventrally flattened bodies and by the extremely long, whip-like sixth pereopod. At least Maxillipius commensalis Lowry, 1984, lives in colonies on gorgonaceans.

General References

Coleman, C.O. 2009. Maxillipiidae. pp. 703-707 in Lowry, J.K. & Myers, A.A. (eds). Benthic Amphipoda (Crustacea: Peracarida) of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Zootaxa 2260: 1-930

Ledoyer, M. 1973. Amphipodes gammariens de la frondaison des herbiers d'Enhalus dela région de nosy. bé (Madagascar) (Systématique et écologie) Comparaison avec la faune des herbiers de tulear (Cymodocea, Thalassia etc...). Téthys (supplement) 5: 25-36

Lowry, J.K. 1984. Maxillipius commensalis, A second species in the family Maxillipiidae from Papua New Guinea (Amphipoda, Gammaridea). Crustaceana 46(2): 195-201

Ren, X. 1998. Studies on the Family Melitidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Nansha Islands, South China Sea. Studies on the Marine Fauna and Flora and Biogeography of the Nansha Islands and Neighbouring Waters III(6): 195-218

Thomas, J.D. 1996. Ecology and behavior of Maxillipius commensalis, a gorgonophile amphipod from Madang, Papua New Guinea (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Maxillipiidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 58: 314-323

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