Abstract
The present work represents a pioneer study on the family Melitidae from Rodrigues, Indian Ocean. Taxonomic descriptions and drawings are given for four new species of melitids namely Ceradocus shoalsi sp. nov., C. cotonensis sp. nov., C. oliveri sp. nov. and Mallacoota magnimerus sp. nov. A key to the Ceradocus species of the Mascarene Islands is provided. Mallacoota insignis (Chevreux) is reported for the first time from Rodrigues.References
Appadoo, C. & Myers, A.A. (2003) The genus Elasmopus (Amphipoda, Gammaridea, Melitidae) from Mauritius (Indian Ocean) with description of five new species. Records of the Australian Museum, 55, 61–84.
Appadoo, C. & Myers, A.A. (2005) Amphipods of the genera Ceradocus, Dulichiella, Melita (Family Melitidae) and Nuuanu (Family Gammarellidae) from Mauritius. Records of the Australian Museum, 57, 221–236.
Appadoo, C., Myers, A.A. & Fagoonee, I. (2002)a The genera Quadrimaera and Maera (Amphipoda: Gammaridea: Melitidae) from Mauritius. Journal of Natural History, 36, 641–673.
Appadoo, C., Myers, A.A.& Fagoonee, I. (2002)b The genus Mallacoota (Amphipoda, Melitidae) from Mauritius, with description of a new species. Journal of Natural History, 36, 767–796.
Barnard, J.L. (1955) Gammaridean Amphipoda (Crustacea) in the collections of Bishop Museums. Bulletin of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 215, 1–46.
Barnard, J.L. (1970) Sublittoral gammaridea (Amphipoda) of the Hawaiian Islands. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 34, 1–286.
Barnard, J.L. (1972) Gammaridean Amphipoda of Australia, Part I. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 103, 1–333.
Bousfield, E.L. (1973) Shallow-water gammaridean amphipod of New England, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 312 pp.
Chevreux, E. (1901) Crustacés amphipodes. Mission scientifique de M.Ch. Allaud aux Iles Seychelles. Mémoires de la Société Zoologique de France, 14, 388–438.
Costa, A. (1853) Relazione sulla memoria del Dottor Achille Costa, di ricerche su’ crostacei anfipodi del regno di Napoli. Rendiconto della Societa Reale Borbonica. Accademia della Scienze, new series, 2, 167–168.
Ledoyer, M. (1972) Amphipodes gammariens vivant dans les alvéoles des constructions organogènes récifales intertidales de la région de Tuléar (Madagascar). Téthys Supplement, 3, 165–286.
Ledoyer, M. (1978) Amphipodes gammariens (Crustacea) des biotopes cavitaires organogènes récifaux de L’île Maurice (Océan, Indien). The Mauritius Institute Bulletin, 7, 197–332.
Ledoyer, M. (1979) Les gammariens de la pente externe du grand récif de Tuléar (Madagascar) (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Memorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, 2, 1–150.
Myers, A.A. (1985) Shallow-water, coral reef and Mangrove Amphipoda (Gammaridea) of Fiji. Records of the Australian Museum Supplement, 5, 1–143.
Oliver, G. & Holmes A.M. (2004) Introduction. In: Oliver, G & Holmes, A.M. (Ed.), The Marine Biodiversity of Rodrigues (Indian Ocean). Proceedings of the first International Workshop of Rodrigues (10 September – 5 October 2001). Journal of Natural History, 38, 2927–2935.
Pirlot, J.M. (1936) Les amphipodes de l’Expédition du Siboga. Deuxième partie: II (3), III (1): Lysianassidae-Gammaridae. Siboga Expeditie, Monographie, 33, 237–328.
Schellenberg, A. (1938) Littorale Amphipoden des Tropischen Pazifics. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar, 16 (6),1–105.
Sivaprakasam, T.E (1970) Amphipods of the genera Maera Leach and Elasmopus Costa from east coast of India. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 10 (1), 34–51.
Walker, A.O. (1909) Amphipoda Gammaridea from Indian Ocean, British East Africa, and the Red Sea. Transactions of the Linnean Society, Series 2, Zoology, 12, 323–344.
Watling, L. (1989) Classification system for crustacean setae based on the homology concept. In: Felgenhauer, B.E., Watling, L. & Thristle, A.B. (Eds.), Functional morphology of feeding and grooming in Crustacea. Crustacean Issues 6. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 15–27.