Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Amphipoda
Family Bogidiellidae

Bermudagidiella bermudensis (Stock, Sket & Iliffe, 1987)


Synonyms: Bogidiella (Antillogidiella) bermudensis Stock, Sket & Iliffe, 1987; Bogidiella martini Stock n. ssp.

Taxonomic Characterization: B. bermudensis is a blind and unpigmented amphipod. The first antenna is about 1/3 of the body length, while the second antenna is shorter than the first. The mouthparts are minute with a wide upper lip and lower lip with fused inner lobes. The coxal plates are wider than they are long and non-lobate. Sexual dimorphism is present only in pleopod 2. Endopodite is absent in all pleopods. The diagnostic structure of the male uropod is unknown because they were damaged in the only available specimen. The telson is wider than long with 2 distal spines on either side.

Disposition of Specimens: Holotype, allotype and paratype from Walsingham Cave deposited in the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam, Amph. 107.874.

Ecological Classification: Stygobitic

Size: Body length: male 1.5 mm, female 1.5-2.0 mm.

Number of Species in Genus: One, only B. bermudensis from Bermuda.

Species Range: Known only from Walsingham and Roadside Caves, Hamilton Parish, Bermuda (Stock et al., 1987).

Closest Related Species: Antillogidiella martini is the closest relative, known from wells on St. Martin in the Lesser Antilles.

Habitat: Anchialine limestone caves

Ecology: Four specimens were found in washings of gravelly sediments from the border of the entrance lake in Walsingham Cave (chlorinity at 17978 mg/l). One female was collected at Roadside Cave where it was washed from coarse sediments on the border of the terminal cave pool with salinity at the surface being 1.8 ppt and at 1 m, 20.62 ppt.

Life History: 4 female and 1 male specimens were collected.

Evolutionary Origins: Similar morphological reductions and modifications suggest a close relationship between Bermudagidiella and Antillogidiella (Koenemann & Holsinger, 1999). Bogidiellids are exclusively stygobitic with most inhabiting freshwaters and some in brackish to marine habitats. They show a world-wide distribution pattern with major concentrations of species in the Mediterranean region (4 genera, 33 spp.), Central America (5 genera, 12 spp.), South America (10 genera, 18 spp.), and the Caribbean region (7 genera, 9 spp.). Generic diversity is highest in South America, while species richness is greater in the Mediterranean region (Koenemann).

Conservation Status: Rare, known only in small numbers from two caves of the Walsingham area of Bermuda.

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