Journal
JOURNAL OF CRUSTACEAN BIOLOGY
Volume 39, Issue 4, Pages 436-439Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jcbiol/ruz016
Keywords
herbivory; kelp canopy; marine biodiversity
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Funding
- National Research Foundation Incentive Grant [96043]
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The herbivorous amphipod Sunamphitoe roberta n. sp. is described from the canopy of kelp beds in False Bay, South Africa. The new species has unusual habits, small family groups burrowing directly into the margins of the swollen primary fronds of the kelp Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss, 1940. Morphologically, the new species is best distinguished from other species of Sunamphitoe by strong rows of dorsal spines on the outer rami of uropods 1 and 2. These spine rows appear to be employed as 'drill-bits' to excavate kelp tissue and create the burrows. Damage to hosts does not appear to be fatal, but requires further investigation.
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