The Gammaridean and Caprellid Amphipoda of Southern Africa

Griffiths, Charles L

The Gammaridean and Caprellid Amphipoda of Southern Africa

Doctoral Thesis

1974

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Biological Sciences

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

It is the intention of this thesis to bring together the existing scattered data concerning the Amphipoda of southern Africa, to add records from unidentified collections and to present the whole in a form that will provide a firm basis for future work in this field. The collections examine d are principally those of the University of Cape Town, the South African Museum and the National Institute for Water Research. These collections are together much larger than any previously reported from southern Africa (in excess of 90 000 specimens from several thousand stations). Findings are presented in a series of five regional papers. Each paper includes brief descriptions of principal collecting areas and their faunas and an analysis of species collected. Station data, references and distributions are provided for all species, while a short diagnosis is given with the first reference to each species. A total of 299 gammaridean and caprellid species is recognised. One family (Temnophliidae), four genera (Chaka, Cunicus, Dikwa, Janice) and 39 species are described as new to science; while 21 others are recorded from southern Africa for the first time. Nine existing species are relegated as synonyms. Following the five regional taxonomic papers, a synoptic guide to the benthic amphipods of the region is provided. This is intended to provide the non-specialist with a means of identifying his own material. A brief guide to methods of collection, storage and examination is provided and is followed by comprehensive fully illustrated keys to the families, genera and species of gammaridean and caprellid Amphipoda recorded from Africa south of 20 degree S, 0-1000m. The figures cover virtually all species, including many never before illustrated and will hopefully reduce the need for exhaustive knowledge of morphological nomenclature, or of extensive reference facilities, before identifications can be made. An appendix provides reference to more detailed descriptions of each species, gives their distributions world-wide and within southern Africa, and lists common synonyms. A concluding chapter discusses modes of dispersal of amphipods and possible origins of the southern African fauna. The region can apparently be divided into tropical, subtropical and temperate provinces, the first two dominantly populated by species of tropical origins and the third rich in endemic forms. This pattern is paralleled in other groups such as the polychaeta. It is concluded that although southern Africa is rich in endemic species and genera it is not a centre for the evolution of major taxa but rather an evolutionary outpost where immigrant forms have evolved under reduced pressure.

Keywords

Zoology

Reference:

Collections

PhD / Doctoral

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