Cumaceans (Crustacea) of the Medes Islands (Catalonia, Spain) with special attention to the genera Bodotria and Iphione

Abstract

A total of 34 hauls of cumaceans obtained by means of an artificial-light epibenthic trap were studied. More than 80,000 specimens of 17 species belonging to four families were obtained. The commonest and most abundant species were Cumella limicola and Nannastacus ungiculatus. A new subspecies Bodotria arenosa leloeuffi ssp. nov. is described, as is the adult male of Iphinoe acutirostris. Morphological differences between the males of five species of the genus Iphinoe are discussed. The results are similar both quantitatively and qualitatively to those obtained from nocturnal plankton fishing in nearby areas, which proves that the bias of the sampling method is minimal in this crustacean order.

Keywords

• bodotria
• iphinoe
• cumacea
• nocturnal plankton
• nw mediterranean