Caprellina longicollis ( Nicolet, 1849 )

Peart, Rachael A. & Woods, Chris, 2025, Caprellidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of Aotearoa New Zealand waters: a constantly changing landscape, Zootaxa 5568 (1), pp. 1-65 : 50-51

Caprellina longicollis ( Nicolet, 1849)

Caprella longicollis Nicolet, 1849: 251 , pl. 4: fig. 5. Caprellina novae-zealandiae Thomson, 1879: 330 . Caprellina longicollis .— Thomson & Chilton, 1885: 141; Stebbing, 1910: 470–471; Barnard, 1930: 440; McCain, 1969: 289–

290, fig. 2.— Guerra-García, 2001b: 1293–1303, figs. 1–7.— Guerra-García, 2003: 180, fig. 2.—DeBroyer et al., 2004:

79–80, fig. 15.—Webber et al., 2010: 156, 219.— Schnabel et al., 2023: 436. Caprellinopsis longicollis, Chilton, 1909: 605 , 648; Stephensen, 1927: 354, 385.

Type locality. Chile .

Distribution. Mediterranean Sea, Southern Ocean, widespread southern distribution.

New Zealand biosecurity status. Currently indeterminate.

Remarks. This study supports the contention that records of Caprella longicollis from New Zealand waters may represent other species (Takeuchi, pers com.). Despite the very similar morphology between the Tasmanian, New Zealand and Chilean records, this study shows there are potentially multiple separate species in New Zealand waters. Detailed studies across many different groups of marine invertebrates have shown that despite presumed cosmopolitan distributions, many represent radiations of morphologically similar, closely related species (e.g., Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014; Cabezas et al. 2013a, b.). This is due to the uncertain identification of many records and the similarity in morphology that was not closely scrutinised. Until a detailed study can be carried out examining every record and resampling fresh material to be able understand the molecular landscape of New Zealand caprellids, C. longicollis is tentatively regarded as occurring in New Zealand.