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The Mediterranean is considered one of the most threatened marine areas due to pollution, the unintentional spread of invasive species from the eastern Atlantic and especially through the Suez Canal, and the destruction of habitats.
However, analyses show that the Mediterranean is the most species-rich region for Apseudopsis, with the Levantine Sea harboring ten species and the southern European Atlantic seven species.
Shallow water and muddy and sandy habitats favor the occurrence of Apseudopsis.
During research around Cyprus in the Sicilian Sea, the Cyprus Basin, and the Levantine Basin in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, two previously unknown frogfishes were discovered and described using a Van Veen grab sampler, Apseudopsis larnacensis and Apseudopsis salinus, bringing the current total of nominal species of Apseudopsis to 26.
The Levantine basin is characterized by warm, saline and oligotrophic waters. In general, surface water reaches almost 39 PSU and the temperature ranges from 15-30 °C depending on the season (Zodiatis, Theodorou & Demetropoulos, 1998; Habib et al., 2022).
The Cyprus Basin is influenced by the Asia Minor Current, which flows in a northwesterly direction, and the Central Mediterranean Jet, which moves towards the southwestern part of the Levantine Basin .
Recent studies in the Ria Formosa (east of Faro, Algarve, Portugal) or the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia), where six or four species were discovered, respectively - one of which was new to science in each area (Carvalho et al., 2019; Esquete, Fersi & Dauvin, 2019) - indicate that the actual diversity could be much higher.
It lives on/in a muddy sand bottom at 11 meters depth, and nothing is currently known about the diet and biology of this scissor-tailed amphipod.
Similar species: Apseudopsis acutifrons (Sars, 1882)
Etymology:
The species occurs near a brine discharge point from a desalination plant in Larnaca, which is why the salt levels are quite high. Salinus” is Latin for ‘salt-bearing’ or ‘salt-containing’.
Literature reference:
Stępień A, Jóźwiak P, Gómez SCG, Avramidi E, Grammatiki K, Lymperaki M, Küpper FC, Esquete P. 2024.
Description of two new Apseudopsis species (A. larnacensis sp. nov and A. salinus sp. nov.) (Tanaidacea: Crustacea) from the Mediterranean and a biogeographic overview of the genus.
PeerJ 12:e18740 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.18740
However, analyses show that the Mediterranean is the most species-rich region for Apseudopsis, with the Levantine Sea harboring ten species and the southern European Atlantic seven species.
Shallow water and muddy and sandy habitats favor the occurrence of Apseudopsis.
During research around Cyprus in the Sicilian Sea, the Cyprus Basin, and the Levantine Basin in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, two previously unknown frogfishes were discovered and described using a Van Veen grab sampler, Apseudopsis larnacensis and Apseudopsis salinus, bringing the current total of nominal species of Apseudopsis to 26.
The Levantine basin is characterized by warm, saline and oligotrophic waters. In general, surface water reaches almost 39 PSU and the temperature ranges from 15-30 °C depending on the season (Zodiatis, Theodorou & Demetropoulos, 1998; Habib et al., 2022).
The Cyprus Basin is influenced by the Asia Minor Current, which flows in a northwesterly direction, and the Central Mediterranean Jet, which moves towards the southwestern part of the Levantine Basin .
Recent studies in the Ria Formosa (east of Faro, Algarve, Portugal) or the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia), where six or four species were discovered, respectively - one of which was new to science in each area (Carvalho et al., 2019; Esquete, Fersi & Dauvin, 2019) - indicate that the actual diversity could be much higher.
It lives on/in a muddy sand bottom at 11 meters depth, and nothing is currently known about the diet and biology of this scissor-tailed amphipod.
Similar species: Apseudopsis acutifrons (Sars, 1882)
Etymology:
The species occurs near a brine discharge point from a desalination plant in Larnaca, which is why the salt levels are quite high. Salinus” is Latin for ‘salt-bearing’ or ‘salt-containing’.
Literature reference:
Stępień A, Jóźwiak P, Gómez SCG, Avramidi E, Grammatiki K, Lymperaki M, Küpper FC, Esquete P. 2024.
Description of two new Apseudopsis species (A. larnacensis sp. nov and A. salinus sp. nov.) (Tanaidacea: Crustacea) from the Mediterranean and a biogeographic overview of the genus.
PeerJ 12:e18740 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.18740
