Anchylomera blossevillii Milne­Edwards

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 : 19-20

Anchylomera blossevillii Milne­Edwards

Anchylomera blossevillii Milne­Edwards, 1830: 394 .

Anchylomera hunterii Milne­Edwards, 1830: 394 .

Hieraconyx abbreviatus Guérin­Méneville, 1836b: 5–6 , pl. 17, figs 2, 2a–f.

Cheiropristis messanensis Natale, 1850: 8–12 , pl. 1, fig. 2.

Anchylomera purpurea Dana, 1853: 1001–1004 , pl. 68, figs 9a–m.

Anchylomera thyropoda Dana, 1853: 1004–1005 , pl. 68, fig. 10.

Anchylomera antipodes Bate, 1862: 322–323 , pl. 51, figs 9–10.

Type material Type material of A. blossevillei is considered lost (see above).

Type material of synonyms

Type material of A. hunterii could not be found at the MNHN or ANSP and is considered lost.

Three syntype females of H. abbreviatus are in the ANSP ( CA2684 ), in the Guérin­ Méneville collection (no. 440): once alcohol preserved, now dry (see Zeidler 1997) .

Type material of C. messanensis could not be located at any major Italian museum (see acknowledgments) and is considered lost.

Type material of A. purpurea and A. thyropoda could not be located at the USNM and is considered lost.

Type material of A. antipodes could not be located at the BMNH or MNHN and is considered lost.

Remarks

This is a very distinctive species that is often found in great numbers and is known to form swarms ( Lobel & Randall 1986, Young & Anderson 1987).

Its association with gelatinous plankton has not been confirmed. Risso (1826) recorded it as an associate of pyrosomes and Harbison et al. (1977) record it as prey, not as a parasite, of the siphonophore, Forskalia tholoides .

Distribution A very common cosmopolitan species favouring tropical and temperate regions.