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First record of the North American amphipod Melita nitida Smith, 1873 in Polish coastal waters Cover

First record of the North American amphipod Melita nitida Smith, 1873 in Polish coastal waters

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies
Volume 46 (2017): Issue 1 (March 2017)
By: Monika Normant-Saremba,  Lena Marszewska and  Francis Kerckhof  
Open Access
|Mar 2017

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Adult male specimen of M. nitida Smith, 1873 collected from the Gulf of Gdańsk in 2014 (Photograph: C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and F. Kerckhof, RBINS)
Adult male specimen of M. nitida Smith, 1873 collected from the Gulf of Gdańsk in 2014 (Photograph: C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and F. Kerckhof, RBINS)

Figure 2

Taxonomic features used for identification of M. nitida: (A) the first urosome segment (i) and dorsolateral spines on the second urosome segment (ii), (B) second male gnathopod (Photograph: C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and f. Kerckhof, rbins)
Taxonomic features used for identification of M. nitida: (A) the first urosome segment (i) and dorsolateral spines on the second urosome segment (ii), (B) second male gnathopod (Photograph: C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and f. Kerckhof, rbins)

Figure 3

Summary records of M. nitida in European coastal waters (chronologically, according to literature and this study; report from Mecklenburg Bay is not included due to lack of detailed data (Lackschewitz et al. 2014)): 1 – 1996, Belgium, Western Scheldt (Ysebaert et al. 2000 – as M. palmata), 2 – 1998 and 1999, the Netherlands, Western Scheldt (van Moorsel & Waardenburg 1999 – as Melita sp. (Faasse & Moorsel 2003), 3 – 2001 the Netherlands, North Sea Canal, connecting Amsterdam with the North Sea (Munts 2002), 4 – 2008, Germany, Kiel Canal (BioConsult 2009 – as Melita pellucida), 5 – 2009, Belgium, harbour of Zeebrugge (Boets et al. 2011), 6 – 2010, the Netherlands, New Waterway, the artificial mouth of the Rhine River connecting Rotterdam with the North Sea (Reichert & Beermann, 2011), 7 – 2010, Germany, Kiel Canal (Reichert & Beermann, 2011), 8 – 2012, Germany, Cuxhaven (Lackschewitz et al. 2014), 9 – 2013, France, Arcachon Bay (Gouillieux et al. 2016), 10 – 2014, Poland, the Gulf of Gdansk, present study, 11 – 2014, France, Hossegor Lake (Gouillieux et al. 2016), 12 – 2014, the Netherlands, Wadden Sea (Gittenberger et al. 2015), 13 – 2016, France, Gironde Estuary (Gouillieux et al. 2016) (Geographic data source: ESRI)
Summary records of M. nitida in European coastal waters (chronologically, according to literature and this study; report from Mecklenburg Bay is not included due to lack of detailed data (Lackschewitz et al. 2014)): 1 – 1996, Belgium, Western Scheldt (Ysebaert et al. 2000 – as M. palmata), 2 – 1998 and 1999, the Netherlands, Western Scheldt (van Moorsel & Waardenburg 1999 – as Melita sp. (Faasse & Moorsel 2003), 3 – 2001 the Netherlands, North Sea Canal, connecting Amsterdam with the North Sea (Munts 2002), 4 – 2008, Germany, Kiel Canal (BioConsult 2009 – as Melita pellucida), 5 – 2009, Belgium, harbour of Zeebrugge (Boets et al. 2011), 6 – 2010, the Netherlands, New Waterway, the artificial mouth of the Rhine River connecting Rotterdam with the North Sea (Reichert & Beermann, 2011), 7 – 2010, Germany, Kiel Canal (Reichert & Beermann, 2011), 8 – 2012, Germany, Cuxhaven (Lackschewitz et al. 2014), 9 – 2013, France, Arcachon Bay (Gouillieux et al. 2016), 10 – 2014, Poland, the Gulf of Gdansk, present study, 11 – 2014, France, Hossegor Lake (Gouillieux et al. 2016), 12 – 2014, the Netherlands, Wadden Sea (Gittenberger et al. 2015), 13 – 2016, France, Gironde Estuary (Gouillieux et al. 2016) (Geographic data source: ESRI)

Basic ecological characteristic of M_ nitida Smith, 1873

Factor/Biological processSpecies characteristic
Temperature- distribution shows tolerance of low and high temperatures; individuals found in water up to 32°C (Faasse & van Moorsel 2003)
Salinity- mesohaline regions of estuaries, in salinities 3-20 PSU, occasionally to 30 PSU (Bousfield 1973)
Substrate- muddy bottom areas, the species can burrow into soft sediment (Bousfield 1973; Borowsky et al. 1997);- at the base of clumps of hydroids and ectoprocts (Bousfield 1973);- in crevices created by oyster reefs (Watling & Maurer1972; Faasse & van Moorsel 2003; Heiman et al. 2008);- in pen shells Atrina rigida (Munguia et al. 2007);- on hard substrates, both natural and artificial, like boulders, rock fills, asphalt fragments in loose gravel (Chapman 1988; Faasse & van Moorsel 2003; Reichert & Beermann 2011)
Nutrition- consumes epiphytes, seagrass debris and detritus; macrophagy and microphagy were both observed, with the latter occurring most often (Zimmerman et al. 1979);- consumes soft sediment (Borowsky et al. 1997)
Reproduction- annual life cycle with several broods, ovigerous females occur in May-September, their size is 5.00-8.71 mm, the number of juveniles per female is 5-51 (Bousfield 1973; Borowsky 1980)

Taxonomic characters to distinguish M_ nitida from M_ palmata (Bousfield 1973; Chapman 1988; Jarrett & Bousfield 1996)

Taxonomic characterM. nitida Smith, 1873M. palmata Montagu, 1804
antenna 1accessory flagellum with 2-3 segmentsaccessory flagellum with 2-4 segments
dorsal teeth on pleon and uro-some segmentsabsent; a group of dorsolateral spines on either side of urosome 2single tooth on urosome segment 1, two smaller dorsolateral teeth on urosome segment 2
male gnathopod 2 propodus very broad across the distal margin (almost triangular)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ohs-2017-0011 | Journal eISSN: 1897-3191 | Journal ISSN: 1730-413X
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Language: English
Page range: 108 - 115
Submitted on: Apr 20, 2016
Accepted on: Jun 13, 2016
Published on: Mar 6, 2017
Published by: University of Gdańsk
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
non-indigenous species,
introduced species,
Melitidae,
Gulf of Gdańsk,
southern Baltic Sea
Related subjects:
Chemistry,
Chemistry, other,
Geosciences,
Geosciences, other,
Life sciences,
Life sciences, other

© 2017 Monika Normant-Saremba, Lena Marszewska, Francis Kerckhof, published by University of Gdańsk
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

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