Abstract
In the present study, a new species, Melita ajmali sp. nov. is described on the basis of specimens collected from Gujarat State, India. This new species is differentiated from the closely related species M. persia Momtazi, Sari & Maghsoudlou, 2014, by its comparatively longer accessory flagellum, the inner ramus of uropod 3 with 3 apical setae and epimeron 3 with smooth posterior margin.
References
- Appadoo, C. & Myers, A.A. (2005) Amphipods of the genera Ceradocus, Dulichiella, Melita and Nuuanu (Crustacea: Melitidae) from Mauritius, Indian Ocean. Records of the Australian Museum, 57, 221–236. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.57.2005.1444
- Barnard, K.H. (1940) Contributions to the crustacean fauna of South Africa. 12. Further additions to the Tanaidacea, Isopoda and Amphipoda, together with keys for the identification of hitherto recorded marine and fresh‐water species. Annals of the South African Museum, 32, 381–543.
- Barnard, J.L. (1970) Sublittoral Gammaridea (Amphipoda) of the Hawaiian Islands. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 13, 1–286. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.34
- Barnard, J.L. (1972) Gammaridean Amphipoda of Australia, I. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 103, 1–333. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.103
- Bousfield, E.L. (1973) Shallow-water gammaridean Amphipoda of New England. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 312 pp.
- Choi, J.H. & Kim, Y.H. (2024) A new species of the genus Melita (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Melitidae) and a new record for Melita shimizui from Korean Brackish Waters. Zootaxa, 5551 (3), 512–530. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5551.3.4
- Coleman, C.O. (2006) Substituting time-consuming pencil drawings in arthropod taxonomy using stacks of digital photographs. Zootaxa, 1360 (1), 61–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1360.1.4
- Dana, J.D. (1852) United States Exploring Expedition. Vol. XIII. Crustacea. Part I. Printed by C. Sherman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 685 pp.
- Gaikwad, S. & Sautya, S. (2022) First record of the genus Caprella and species Caprella danilevskii Czerniavski, 1868 (Amphipoda: Corophiida: Caprellidae) from Arabian Sea, North Indian Ocean. Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences, 51 (01), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.56042/ijms.v51i01.33231
- Gosavi, S., Purohit, B., Mitra, S., Patel, K., Vachhrajani, K. & Trivedi, J. (2021) Annotated checklist of marine decapods (Crustacea: Decapoda) of Gujarat state with three new records. Proceedings of the “Marine Biology Research Symposium-MBRS”, 2021, 45–66.
- Gosavi, S., Trivedi, J.N., Trivedi, D.J. & Vachhrajani, K.D. (2017) New records of anomurans (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Gujarat, India. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 5 (4), 658–662.
- Hirayama, A. (1987) Taxonomic studies on the shallow water Gammaridean Amphipoda of west Kyushu, Japan 7. Melitidae (Melita), Melphidippidae etc. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 32, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.5134/176135
- Horton, T., Lowry, J., De Broyer, C., Bellan-Santini, D., Copilas-Ciocianu, D., Corbari, L., Costello, M.J., Daneliya, M., Dauvin, J.C., Fišer, C., Gasca, R., Grabowski, M., Guerra-García, J.M., Hendrycks, E., Hughes, L., Jaume, D., Jazdzewski, K., Kim, Y.H., King, R., Krapp-Schickel, T., LeCroy, S., Lörz, A.N., Mamos, T., Senna, A.R., Serejo, C., Souza-Filho, J.F., Tandberg, A.H., Thomas, J.D., Thurston, M., Vader, W., Väinölä, R., Valls Domedel, G., Vonk, R., White, K. & Zeidler, W. (2025) World Amphipoda Database. Melita Leach, 1814. Available from: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=101679 (accessed 23 April 2025)
- Jarrett, N.E. & Bousfield, E.L. (1996) The amphipod superfamily Hazdioidea on the Pacific Coast of North America: Family Melitidae. Part 1. The Melita group: systematics and distributional ecology. Amphipacifica, 2 (2), 1–74.
- Karaman, G. (1978) On two Melita species (Fam. Gammaridae) from the Mediterranean Sea, M. bulla n. sp. and M. valesi S. Kar. 1955. Bollettino Museo civico Storia naturale Verona, 5, 221–237.
- Karaman, G. (1987) A new species of genus Melita Leach (Fam. Melitidae) from Bermuda and Fiji Islands. Glasnik Prirodnjackog Muzeja U Beogradu, Series B, 42, 19–35.
- Karaman, S.L. (1943) Die unterirdischen Amphipoden Südserbiens. Srpska Akademya Nauka, Posebna Izdana, 135 (Prirodn'achki i Mathematichki Spici), 34 (4), 161–312.
- Krapp-Schickel, T. & Sket, B. (2015) Melita mirzajanii n. sp. (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Melitidae), a puzzling new member of the Caspian fauna. Zootaxa, 3948 (2), 248–262. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3948.2.6
- Leach, W.E. (1814) Crustaceology. The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, 7, 383–434.
- Lowry, J.K. & Myers, A.A. (2013) A Phylogeny and Classification of the Senticaudata subord. nov. Crustacea: Amphipoda. Zootaxa, 3610 (1), 1–80. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3610.1.1
- Momtazi, F., Sari, A. & Maghsoudlou, A. (2014) New species and new record of hadzioids (Amphipoda: Senticaudata, Hadzioidea) from the Persian Gulf, Iran. Zootaxa, 3881 (5), 440–452. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3881.5.2
- Myers, A.A., Trivedi, J.N., Gosavi, S. & Vachhrajani, K.D. (2017) A new species of genus Parhyale Stebbing, 1897 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Hyalidae) from Gujarat State, India. Zootaxa, 4294 (5), 593–599. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4294.5.8
- Myers, A.A., Trivedi, J.N., Gosavi, S. & Vachhrajani, K.D. (2018) Elasmopus sivaprakasami sp. nov., a new species of amphipod (Senticaudata, Maeridae) from Gujarat State, India. Zootaxa, 4402 (1), 182–188. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4402.1.10
- Oliveira, L.P.H. (1953) Crustacea Amphipoda de Rio de Janeiro. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 51, 289–376. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02761953000100009
- Ortíz, M., García-Debras, A. & Lalana, R. (2002) A new anchialine amphipod crustacean of the genus Melita (Gammaridea: Melitidae), from the Island of Cuba. Avicennia : Revista de Ecología, Oceanología Y Biodiversidad Tropical, 15, 43–52. [in Spanish]
- Patel, K., Jain, R., Patel, A.N. & Kalubarme, M.H. (2021) Shoreline change monitoring for coastal zone management using multi-temporal Landsat data in Mahi River estuary, Gujarat State. Applied Geomatics, 13, 333–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-021-00353-8
- Patel, K., Padate, V., Osawa, M., Tiwari, S., Vachhrajani, K. & Trivedi, J. (2022) An annotated checklist of anomuran species (Crustacea: Decapoda) of India. Zootaxa, 5157 (1), 1–100. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5157.1.1
- Ruffo, S. (1958) Osservazioni sopra alcune specie di Anfipodi trovate a Banyuls su Echinodermi. Vie et milieu, 8 (3), 312–318.
- Sars, G.O. (1883) Oversigt af Norges Crustaceer med foreløbige Bemaerkninger over de nye eller mindre bekjendte Arter. I. (Podophthalmata—Cumacea—Isopoda—Amphipoda). Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania, 18, 1–124, pls. 1–6.
- Sheridan, P.F. (1979) Three new species of Melita (Crustacea: Amphipoda), with notes of the Amphipod fauna of the Apalachicola estuary of northwest Florida. Northeast Gulf Science, 3 (2), 60–73. https://doi.org/10.18785/negs.0302.02
- Smith, S.I. (1874) In: Verrill, A.E. Report upon the invertebrate animals of Vineyard Sound and the adjacent waters, with an account of the physical characters of the region. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Report of the U.S Commissioner for 1871 and 1872, 1874, 295–778, pls. 1–38.
- Stebbing, T.R.R. (1904) Gregarious Crustacea from Ceylon. Spolia Zeylanica, 2 (5), 1–29.
- Stephensen, K. (1944) Some Japanese amphipods. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening, 108, 25–88.
- Thacker, D., Myers, A.A. & Trivedi, J. (2023a) A new species and a new record of the amphipod genus Cymadusa Savigny, 1816 (Senticaudata, Ampithoidae) from India. Zootaxa, 5297 (3), 393–405. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5297.3.4
- Thacker, D., Myers, A. & Trivedi, J. (2023b) A new species of sponge-inhabiting amphipod, Leucothoe jimi sp. n. (Amphilochidea: Leucothoidae) from Gujarat state, India. Journal of Natural History, 57 (33–36), 1516–1526. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2023.2262683
- Thacker, D., Patel, K., Myers, A., Guerra-García, J.M., Zeidler, W. & Trivedi, J. (2023c) Annotated checklist of marine amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of India. Zootaxa, 5340 (1), 1–90. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5340.1.1
- Thacker, D., Myers, A.A. & Trivedi, J.N. (2024a) On a small collection of Maeridae Krapp-Schickel, 2008 (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Gujarat, India. Zootaxa, 5474 (5), 563–583. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5474.5.7
- Thacker, D., Myers, A.A. & Trivedi, J.N. (2024b) On species of genus Byblis Boeck, 1971 (Amphilochidea, Ampeliscidae) reported from India with the description of one new species. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 104, e115. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315424001036
- Tomikawa, K., Hirashima, K., Hirai, A. & Uchiyama, R. (2018) A new species of Melita from Japan (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Melitidae). ZooKeys, 760, 73–88. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.760.24778
- Tomikawa, K., Sasaki, T., Aoyagi, M. & Nakano, T. (2022) Taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Melita (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Melitidae) from the West Pacific Islands, with descriptions of four new species. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 296, 141–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2021.12.005
- Tomikawa, K., Yamato, S. & Ariyama, H. (2024) Melita panda, a new species of Melitidae (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from Japan. ZooKeys, 1212, 267–283. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1212.128858
- Trivedi, D.J., Soni, G. & Vachhrajani, K.D. (2015) On new records of hermit crabs (Anomura: Paguroidea: Diogenidae) from Gujarat state of India. Electronic Journal of Environmental Sciences, 8, 33–42.
- Trivedi, J.N. & Vachhrajani, K.D. (2017) An annotated checklist of hermit crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura) of Indian waters with three new records. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, 10 (2), 175–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2017.01.001
- Trivedi, J.N., Ahyong, S.T., Vachhrajani, K.D. & Kumar, A.B. (2020) An annotated checklist of the mantis shrimps of India (Crustacea: Stomatopoda). Zootaxa, 4768 (2), 221–238. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4768.2.4
- Uéno, M. (1940) Some freshwater amphipods from Manchoukuo, Corea and Japan. Bulletin Biogeographical Society Japan, 10, 63–85.
- Yamato, S. (1987) Four intertidal species of the genus Melita (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Japanese waters, including descriptions of two new species. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 32 (4/6), 275–302. https://doi.org/10.5134/176142
- Yamato, S. (1988) Two species of the genus Melita (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from brackish waters in Japan. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 33, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.5134/176148
