CHELURIDAE, Allman, 1847

Mead, A., Carlton, J. T., Griffiths, C. L. & Rius, M., 2011, Introduced and cryptogenic marine and estuarine species of South Africa, Journal of Natural History 45 (39 - 40), pp. 2463-2524 : 2484

Family CHELURIDAE

Chelura terebrans Philippi, 1839 Introduced

Chelura terebrans is a cosmopolitan reddish wood-boring amphipod that is easily recognizable due to its fused urosomites and enormously enlarged third uropods. It is found in temperate waters of both northern and southern hemispheres burrowing into waterlogged wood that has previously been excavated by isopods of the genus Limnoria . Stebbing (1910) first reported its presence in South Africa, based on specimens from 1888. It is found in all harbours between Langebaan on the west coast and Port Elizabeth on the east coast and is likely to have been distributed in ship fouling and boring communities in the era of wooden vessels.