Marine amphipods of the Canary Islands with description of a new species of Elasmopus

Abstract

Thirty-two amphipod species were found in the phytal of Gran Canaria island, 15 of them new to the fauna of the Canary Islands. The presence of Ampithoe kaneohe J. L. Barnard (first described from the Hawaiian Islands) isconfirmed. and Elasmopus canarius n. sp. isdescribed. This new species isvery closely related to a group of almost entirely Indo-Pacific species, with intertropical distribution. The species is characterized in the male by a large. obtuse tooth on palmar margin of gnathopod 2 and a castelloserrate posterior margin in pereopods 6 and 7.