The Caprellidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of 

 the Western North Atlantic ^ 



Introduction 



The most important publications on the systematics of the caprel- 

 Uds are the three monographic treatments by Paul Mayer (1882, 

 1890, 1903). These indispensable works summarized all that was 

 known of caprelhd taxonomy at that time, including many western 

 Atlantic species. Unfortunately, Mayer's work comphcated caprellid 

 taxonomy by recognizing in some species, such as the composite 

 species Caprella acutijrons, large numbers of varieties which appear 

 by modern concepts to be full species. In other instances he took a 

 rather narrow \dew of species. 



Although caprelhd amphipods are abundant and famiUar members 

 of the marine benthos, western Atlantic species have received only 

 limited and superficial study by taxonomists. Seventeen vaHd species 

 have been reported from this area. Holmes (1905) briefly characterized 

 the five species known from New England and Kunkel (1918) cUd the 

 same for four Connecticut species, including one species not mentioned 

 by Holmes. Recently, Steinberg and Dougherty (1957) reported nine 

 species from the Gulf of Mexico, one of which was new. In my paper 

 (1965) five species occurring in Virginia waters are reviewed. Both 

 Pearse (1908) and Stebbing (1895) described new species from the 

 West Indies and Huntsman (1915) described a new species from the 

 Bay of Fundy. Including the papers mentioned above, some 50 pub- 

 hcations deal with the western Atlantic caprellids, the majority being 

 faunal hsts of local areas. 



This paper deals primarily uith the systematics of the Caprelhdae 

 occurring from the tropical to boreal areas of the western North 

 Atlantic, roughly from the Equator to Nova Scotia. The paucity of 

 available material from the east coast of South America prevents 

 consideration of species south of the Equator. North of Nova Scotia 

 the caprelhd fauna changes abruptly and it is, therefore, desirable to 

 defer treatment of the capreUids from this area until the Arctic caprel- 

 hd fauna can be considered in its entirety. In all, 28 species of caprelhds 

 are treated in this paper with 2 new genera, 4 new species, and 1 new 

 rank described. 



' Modified from a dissertation submitted to The George Washington University 

 in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 



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