Stenothoe miersii (Haswell, 1879)

Krapp-Schickel, Traudl & Vader, Wim, 2015, Stenothoids living with or on other animals (Crustacea, Amphipoda), Zoosystematics and Evolution 91 (2), pp. 215-246 : 215

Taxon classification Animalia Amphipoda Stenothoidae

Stenothoe miersii (Haswell, 1879) Figures 6, 7

Montagua Miersii Haswell, 1879: 323, pl. 24, fig. 4.

Montagua longicornis Haswell, 1879: 323, pl. 24, fig. 5.

Stenothoe miersi . - Stebbing 1906: 200 (in part). - Stebbing 1910: 637 (in part). Lowry and Stoddart 2003: 260. - Krapp-Schickel 2009: 873-875.

Stenothoe? miersii . - J.L. Barnard 1974: 120, figs 75-76.

Stenothoe valida . - Sheard 1937: 21 (= Stenothoe miersii , but confused with other species).

not Montaguana miersii . - Chilton 1883: 79 (part = Stenothoe moe , J.L Barnard 1972).

not Montagua miersii . - Chilton 1884: 1043 (part = Stenothoe moe , J.L Barnard 1972).

not Probolium miersii . - Thomson and Chilton 1886: 150 (= Stenothoe valida ).

Type locality.

Port Jackson, New South Wales, Australia.

Material examined.

1 spec. from Bermagui (400 km S of Port Jackson, Australia), 8/6/1989, Wim Vader collected on a hermit crab in shallow water. Stored at the Australian Museum (AM xxx) Sydney.

Remarks.

In Haswell (1879) two species of Montagua were described from Port Jackson, Sydney: Montagua miersii , directly followed by Montagua longicornis . It appears that the first was the female, the latter the male of the same species, belonging to Stenothoe . J.L. Barnard (1974) described four species of Stenothoe from Australia. One of these he called Stenothoe? miersi , doubting about the synonymy, as no type material is available. Barnard‘s description matches the different populations around most of the Australian coastline, also the Lizard Island specimens ( Krapp-Schickel 2009: 873-875), and again the illustrations given here of a female.

Ecology.

It may well be that this specimen lived among the encrusting hydroids and bryozoans growing on top of the hermit-crab-shell and thus had no direct association with the crab; it was the only Stenothoe specimen found among many hermit crabs.