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XXI.—The Swimming and Burrowing Habits of the Amphipod Urothoë marina (Bate)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

E. Emrys Watkin
Affiliation:
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
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Extract

The intertidal and shallow-water sands of the coasts of the British Isles contain, in many cases as the dominant amphipod fauna, species of the three genera Haustorius, Urothoë, and Bathyporeia of the family Haustoriidæ, often coexistent in the same habitat and obtainable in the same samples. The swimming and burrowing mechanisms of Haustorius arenarius have been described by Dennell (1933), and I have described (1939) the mechanisms in some species of the genus Bathyporeia. This paper deals mainly with Urothoë marina; no reference is made to the other species of the genus, although U. brevicornis has been examined and found to be similar to U. marina. Since all species of the genus Urothoë are very similar morphologically and live in similar habitats, it may be assumed that the following description of U. marina will apply to them also, but I have had no opportunity of examining the more southern species U. grimaldii or U. pulchella. Crawford (1937) states that the burrowing habits of U. brevicornis and U. grimaldii var. poseidonis are very similar to those of Haustorius.

Type
Proceedings
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1940

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References

References to Literature

Crawford, G. I., 1937. “Notes on the Distribution of Burrowing Isopoda and Amphipoda in Various Soils on the Sea Bottom near Plymouth,” Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., vol. xxi, p. 638.Google Scholar
Dennell, R., 1933. “The Habits and Feeding Mechanism of the Amphipod Haustorius arenarius Slabber,” Journ. Linn. Soc., London, Zool., vol. xxxviii, pp. 363388.Google Scholar
Sexton, E. L., 1925. “The Moulting and Growth Stages of Gammarus, with Descriptions of the Normals and Intersexes of Gammarus chevreuxi,” Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., vol. xiii, pp. 358360.Google Scholar
Watkin, E. E., 1939. “The Swimming and Burrowing Habits of Some Species of the Amphipod genus Bathyporeia,” Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., vol. xxiii, pp. 457465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar