Hyperiid amphipods (Crustacea : Peracarida) from a warm-core eddy in the Tasman Sea

Abstract

Hyperiid amphipods were sampled from a warm-core eddy in the Tasman Sea in August, September and October 1979. Samples were taken at night to a depth of 400 m using a midwater trawl (RMT-8). In all, 22 798 hyperiids representing 38 species and 10 families were identified, adding 13 new records for eastern Australian waters. For each species, synoptic information is given on taxonomy, life history, vertical distribution, geographic range and associations with gelatinous zooplankton. Hyperiids were confined mainly to the upper 100 m of water at night. Evidence for a summer breeding season was found in three abundant species (Scina crassicornis, Primno johnsoni and Brachyscelus crusculum). Tropical hyperiid species may be transported into the Tasman Sea by the southward movement of eddies from their origin in the Coral Sea.