Skip to main content

Panda shrimp (Melita panda), a black-and-white species of Melitidae (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from Japan

Panda shrimp (Melita panda), a black-and-white species of Melitidae (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from Japan

NEWS - A new member of the intertidal species Melita Leach, 1814 (Melitidae, Amphipoda), panda shrimp (Melita panda), was collected from Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The researchers used nuclear 28S rRNA and mitochondrial COI gene analyses to support that the new species is closely related to M. koreana and M. nagatai.

Melita is found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments and includes 63 species worldwide, of which 16 have been recorded in Japan. In the 1990s, Shigeyuki Yamato discovered an unidentified specimen of the distinctive black-and-white coloration in the intertidal zone of Wakayama Prefecture.

Recently, a large number of specimens have been collected by Ko Tomikawa of Hiroshima University and Hiroyuki Ariyama of the Osaka Museum of Natural History. Detailed morphological analysis revealed that these specimens have not been described before. Molecular phylogenetic analysis has been used to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among Melita species.

M. panda differs from M. koreana in having a black-and-white body coloration (vs. almost entirely gray), an anterodistal projection of the propodus of male gnathopod 1 that covers the dactylus (vs. not covering it completely), a propodus of male gnathopod 1 with three and one setae on the posterior edge and at the base of the anterodistal projection (vs. lacking but with a seta at the palmar corner) and a telson with lateral setae (vs. lacking).

M. panda differs from M. nagatai in having a black-and-white body color (vs. almost entirely gray), lacking setae at the base of the maxilla 1 of the palp article 1 (vs. having setae), having an anterodistal projection of the propodus of male gnathopod 1 that covers the dactylus (vs. not completely covering), propodus of male gnathopod 1 with three and one setae at the posterior edge and base of the anterodistal projection (vs. lacking but having setae at the palmar angle) and having a telson with lateral setae (vs. not having).

M. panda differs from M. bingoensis in having urosomite 2 with three (vs. having two) setae on each side, anterodistal projection of the propodus of male gnathopod 1 covering the dactylus (vs. not completely covering), coxa of female pereopod 6 deeper than wide (vs. wider than deep) and telson with lateral setae (vs. absent).

The researchers did not include M. bingoensis in the molecular phylogenetic analysis, but its morphological similarities also suggest it is phylogenetically close to M. panda. The new species gets its name from its black-and-white body color, which resembles the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca.

Original research

Tomikawa K, Yamato S, Ariyama H (2024). Melita panda, a new species of Melitidae (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from Japan. ZooKeys 1212: 267-283, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1212.128858

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Bugang (Clerodendrum calamitosum)

Bugang ( Clerodendrum calamitosum ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect shrub, growing up to 1 meter tall, with cylindrical, green stems and white hairs. The leaves are opposite. The leaf blade is oval, wavy, with a central main vein with numerous pinnate minor veins, and serrated margins. The leaves are up to 9 cm long and 7 cm wide. The petiole is up to 2 cm long. The flowers are star-shaped, white, up to 3 cm in diameter and up to 6 cm in total length. The fruit is round, dark green, turning black when ripe. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Ajugoideae Genus: Clerodendrum L. in Sp. Pl.: 637 (1753) Species: Clerodendrum calamitosum L. in Mant. Pl. 1: 90 (1767) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Clerodendrum fastigiatum (W.Hunter ex Ridl.) H.J.Lam in Verben. Malay. Archip.: 317 (1919) Volkameria alternifolia Burm.f. in Fl. Indica: 137 (1768) Volkameria fastigiata W.Hunter...
Read more

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa
Read more

Durian (Durio zibethinus)

Durian ( Durio zibethinus ) is a species of tropical plant in Malvaceae, an annual tree, everlasting green but there are certain times to grow new leaves after the fruiting period is over, popularly called "king of fruit" and considered a controversial fruit where many people like, but some others are even fed up with the scent. D. zibethinus grows to 25-50 m, reddish brown bark and irregular peeling, leafy and stretched canopy. The leaves are oval shaped to lanceolate, 10-15x3-4.5 cm, sitting alternately, stemmed, taper or blunt base and taper-pointed sloping, bright green upper side, the lower side covered with silver or golden scales. Flowers and fruit Flowers appear directly on the trunk or old branches at the proximal, clustered in panicles containing 3-10 florets or flat-shaped florets. Rounded flower buds, 2 cm in diameter and long stem. Tubular petals, 3 cm long, additional petals split into 2-3 round lobes. Crown shaped spatula with a length of 2 times the ...
Read more