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Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)

The two introduced beachfleas Orchestia gammarellus and Platorchestia platensis reported from South Africa have complicated histories, filled with misidentification and inaccurate documentation of distribution records. At the outset of this study, records of Orchestia gammarellus were restricted to...

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Main Author: Diemer, Natalie
Other Authors: Griffiths, Charles L
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute 2016
Subjects:
Applied Marine Science
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access_status_str Open Access
author Diemer, Natalie
author2 Griffiths, Charles L
author_browse Diemer, Natalie
Griffiths, Charles L
author_facet Griffiths, Charles L
Diemer, Natalie
author_sort Diemer, Natalie
collection Thesis
description The two introduced beachfleas Orchestia gammarellus and Platorchestia platensis reported from South Africa have complicated histories, filled with misidentification and inaccurate documentation of distribution records. At the outset of this study, records of Orchestia gammarellus were restricted to - Langebaan Lagoon, Knysna and Milnerton Lagoon; while Platorchestia platensis had been recorded from Knysna and '34°S/19°E' (Gansbaai area). To verify this information, historical records were re-examined and 16 estuaries and lagoons in the Western Cape and two in the Eastern Cape Province were searched in order to determine the correct historical and current distributions of both species. It was found that historically and still today O. gammarellus occurs in Langebaan Lagoon. Its other current known distribution is the Berg River Estuary, Milnerton Lagoon and the Bushman's River; it never occurred in Knysna and records from that site were misidentifications of P. platensis. Historic records could only confirm P. platensis in Knysna and one other unknown location (specimen apparently mislabelled). Current searches conversely found P. platensis to be wide-spread, its range extending from Langebaan Lagoon to Algoa Bay (regions east of Bushman's River were not searched). Both species were described morphologically in detail taking their growth patterns into account and highlighting their differences, allowing for easier identification.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/19955
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:08.355Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute
publisherStr Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/19955 Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae) Diemer, Natalie Griffiths, Charles L Applied Marine Science The two introduced beachfleas Orchestia gammarellus and Platorchestia platensis reported from South Africa have complicated histories, filled with misidentification and inaccurate documentation of distribution records. At the outset of this study, records of Orchestia gammarellus were restricted to - Langebaan Lagoon, Knysna and Milnerton Lagoon; while Platorchestia platensis had been recorded from Knysna and '34°S/19°E' (Gansbaai area). To verify this information, historical records were re-examined and 16 estuaries and lagoons in the Western Cape and two in the Eastern Cape Province were searched in order to determine the correct historical and current distributions of both species. It was found that historically and still today O. gammarellus occurs in Langebaan Lagoon. Its other current known distribution is the Berg River Estuary, Milnerton Lagoon and the Bushman's River; it never occurred in Knysna and records from that site were misidentifications of P. platensis. Historic records could only confirm P. platensis in Knysna and one other unknown location (specimen apparently mislabelled). Current searches conversely found P. platensis to be wide-spread, its range extending from Langebaan Lagoon to Algoa Bay (regions east of Bushman's River were not searched). Both species were described morphologically in detail taking their growth patterns into account and highlighting their differences, allowing for easier identification. 2016-06-09T11:10:29Z 2016-06-09T11:10:29Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19955 eng application/pdf Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Applied Marine Science
Diemer, Natalie
Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)
title_full Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)
title_fullStr Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)
title_full_unstemmed Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)
title_short Identification and distribution of South Africa's non-native beachfleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae)
title_sort identification and distribution of south africa s non native beachfleas crustacea amphipoda talitridae
topic Applied Marine Science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19955
work_keys_str_mv AT diemernatalie identificationanddistributionofsouthafricasnonnativebeachfleascrustaceaamphipodatalitridae

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