Phronimopsis Claus, 1879

Zeidler, Wolfgang, 2004, A review of the families and genera of the hyperiidean amphipod superfamily Phronimoidea Bowman & Gruner, 1973 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyperiidea), Zootaxa 567, pp. 1-66 : 33

Genus Phronimopsis Claus, 1879

Remarks

This genus is monotypic. It is easily recognised by the distinctively chelate second gnathopods and by the phronimid type of body of females. Virtually nothing is known regarding its biology, other than that it seems to be an epipelagic species ( Thurston 1976), found in surface layers down to a depth of 300–500m ( Vinogradov et al. 1982). The only record of an association with gelatinous plankton is with the ctenophore Beroe forskalii ( Krumbach 1911) . The prehensile structure of pereopods 3–7 strongly suggests a parasitic existence. It is relatively uncommon, but widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions of the world’s oceans.

It should be noted here that Claus (1878: 270) mentions Phronimopsis in a general paper on hyperiideans but does not provide any characters to distinguish it from other genera. Obviously Claus intended this paper to follow his diagnosis of the genus in 1879. As Claus (1878) did not diagnose the genus, and for the sake of nomenclatural stability, Phronimopsis should be credited with Claus (1879).

Species: Phronimopsis spinifera Claus, 1879 .