Automate branchialis | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Crustacea |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Family: | Alpheidae |
Genus: | Automate |
Species: | A. branchialis |
Binomial name | |
Automate branchialis | |
Automate branchialis is a species of pistol shrimp from the family Alpheidae which was thought to be a Lessepsian migrant, i.e. a species which had colonised the Mediterranean from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. This was because before its description in 1958 all the species of the genus Automate were found in the Indo-Pacific region. A. branchialis has not been recorded in the Indo-Pacific region and has been found to be widespread in the Mediterranean so it is now considered to be a Mediterranean endemic.
Automate branchialis was originally described from specimens collected by Holthuis & Gottlieb off the coast of Israel in the 1950s. At the time the pistol shrimps of the genus Automate were only known from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and although Holthuis & Gottlieb described their specimens as the new species Automate branchialis it was assumed that it had invaded the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea by Lessepsian migration. [2]
A. branchialis was subsequently collected from a number of locations in the Mediterranean including Izmir Bay in Turkey, in the Greek Islands, Cyprus, from Manfredonia Bay in Italy, Malta, off Marseilles, the Balearic Islands and off Spain. The widespread distribution of A. branchialis in the Mediterranean and the lack of any records in the Indo-Pacific region have led researchers to conclude that it is a previously overlooked endemic Mediterranean species. It was probably overlooked because of its small size and preferred deep water habitat; it is demersal with a depth range of 18–73 m. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Alpheidae is a family of caridean snapping shrimp, characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names for animals in the group are pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp.
The Lessepsian migration is the migration of marine species across the Suez Canal, usually from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and more rarely in the opposite direction. When the canal was completed in 1869, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other marine animals and plants were exposed to an artificial passage between the two naturally separate bodies of water, and cross-contamination was made possible between formerly isolated ecosystems. The phenomenon is still occurring today. It is named after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat in charge of the canal's construction.
Automate is a genus of pistol shrimp of the family Alpheidae, containing the following species:
Alpheus rapacida, is a species of snapping shrimp of the family Alpheidae. It is found at depths of up to 56 metres (184 ft) across the Indo-West Pacific, with a few recent observations from the Mediterranean coasts of Israel and Turkey as a Lessepsian migrant.
Squilla mantis is a species of mantis shrimp found in shallow coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean: it is also known as "pacchero" or "canocchia". Its abundance has led to it being the only commercially fished mantis shrimp in the Mediterranean.
Scyllarides latus, the Mediterranean slipper lobster, is a species of slipper lobster found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is edible and highly regarded as food, but is now rare over much of its range due to overfishing. Adults may grow to 1 foot (30 cm) long, are camouflaged, and have no claws. They are nocturnal, emerging from caves and other shelters during the night to feed on molluscs. As well as being eaten by humans, S. latus is also preyed upon by a variety of bony fish. Its closest relative is S. herklotsii, which occurs off the Atlantic coast of West Africa; other species of Scyllarides occur in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific. The larvae and young animals are largely unknown.
Periclimenes imperator, known as the emperor shrimp, is a species of shrimp with a wide distribution across the Indo-Pacific. It lives commensally on a number of hosts, including the sea slug Hexabranchus. A. J. Bruce first described it in 1967 based on eight specimens ranging from 4 millimetres (0.16 in) to 7.6 millimetres (0.30 in), and found Periclimenes rex to be its best resemblance.
Marsupenaeus is a monotypic genus of prawn. It contains a single species, Marsupenaeus japonicus, known as the kuruma shrimp, kuruma prawn, or Japanese tiger prawn. It occurs naturally in bays and seas of the Indo-West Pacific, but has also reached the Mediterranean Sea as a Lessepsian migrant. It is one of the largest species of prawns, and is accordingly one of the most economically important species in the family.
Trachysalambria curvirostris is a species of prawn that lives in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific. It is one of the most important species targeted by prawn fishery, with annual harvests of more than 300,000 t, mostly landed in China.
Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs, some of which can be eaten.
Ogyrididae is a family of decapod crustaceans consisting of 10 species.
Vanderhorstia mertensi, Mertens' shrimp goby or the slender shrimp goby, is a ray-finned fish species native to the Red Sea, Japan, Papua-New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef. Male individuals can reach a length of 11 cm in total. In 2008 a specimen was collected in the Mediterranean Sea, in Gulf of Fethiye on the coast of southern Turkey, where it was found on sandy bottoms in the icnity of beds of sea grass such as Zostera spp., Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodose in the burrows of the alpheid shrimps Alpheus glaber and Alpheus rapacida. It is thought that the gobies most likely entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal by Lessepsian migration from the Red Sea but the possibility of transportation in ships' ballst waters cannot be excluded. It was recorded off Israel in 2013, confirming that its origin was as a Lessepsian migrant. The specific name honours the German herpetologist Robert Mertens (1894-1975) the former director of the Naturmuseum Senckenberg in Frankfurt,who the author, Klausewitz, learnt about the biological and ecological view of modern systematics and taxonomy.
Periclimenaeus is a genus of decapod crustaceans of the family Palaemonidae which is part of the infraorder Caridea. The genus was named by the English carcinologist Lancelot Alexander Borradaile in 1915. He set out the distinguishing features of the genus as:
Body rather stout, cephalothorax deep, a good deal compressed, abdomen greatly curved Thorax without dorsal swelling. Rostrum rather short, compressed, toothed above only. Outer antennular flagellum not deeply cleft. Antennal scale of good breadth. Mandible without palp. Second maxilliped without podopalp. Third maxilliped narrow, with vestigial arthrobranch.
Saron marmoratus, the marbled shrimp, is a species of "cleaner shrimp" from the family Thoridae, although its taxonomic position is subject to some controversy as many authorities have considered it to be a member of the family Hippolytidae sensu lato. It's normally found in the Indo-Pacific region but in 2013 it was found off the coast of Lebanon, probably having reached the Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. It is a popular species in aquaria due to its easy care.
Leptochela is a genus of small shrimp from the family Pasiphaeidae. They are found in the Indo-Pacific region and the western Atlantic with an isolated species in Hawaii, they are absent from the eastern Atlantic Ocean and were absent from the eastern Pacific but specimens of a species widespread in the western Atlantic were collected from waters to the south of the tip of Baja California. Two species, Leptochela aculeocaudata and Leptochela pugnax have invaded the eastern Mediterranean from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal and are thus classified as Lessepsian migrants.
Hyastenus hilgendorfi is a species of spider crab from the family Epialtidae, classified in the sub-family Pisinae, from the Indo-Pacific region. It has been recorded in the Suez Canal and there have been a few records in the eastern Mediterranean, making it a Lessepsian migrant.
Ixa monodi, the Red Sea pebble crab is a species of pebble crab from the family Leucosiidae which prefers to burrow in sandy, shallow coastal waters. It was first described from the eastern Mediterranean where it is an invasive species having colonised the coasts of the Levantine Sea from the Red Sea by Lessepsian migration from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.
Ixa is a genus of Indo-Pacific pebble crabs from the family Leucosiidae. The genus was erected by William Elford Leach in 1816. One species, the Red Sea pebble crab, is a Lessepsian migrant and the species was first described to science from specimens collected on the Mediterranean Sea although the species is native to the Red Sea and had colonised the eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
Periclimenes, commonly known as glass shrimp or cleaner shrimp, is a commensal and often symbiotic genus of semi-transparent shrimp within the family Palaemonidae. Species of this large genus feature a wide variety of coloration and patterns, widespread distribution throughout much of the world's tropical oceans, and are often sought out for aquarium trade.