Urothoe is a genus of very small marine amphipod crustaceans in the family Urothoidae. Members of the genus are found worldwide.
Biology
Urothods are long and live on the sea bed or in shallow burrows in gravelly substrates or muddy sand. They can swim for short distances. They are vulnerable to dredging but are able to recover afterwards and re-establish their burrows. They are deposit feeders and also selectively scrape microorganisms from grains of sand.
Reproduction
Urothoe reaches sexual maturity at five months and may live for about a year. The sexes are distinct and breeding takes place in the summer months. Fertilisation is internal and there are about fifteen eggs per brood, produced in a cycle of about fifteen days. Fecundity is high and the juveniles grow fast but biological dispersal is very limited.
Species
Urothoe contains the following species:
- Urothoe atlantica <small>Bellan-Santini & Menioui, 2004</small>
- Urothoe bairdii <small>Bate, 1862</small>
- Urothoe brevicornis <small>Bate, 1862</small>
- Urothoe carda <small>Imbach, 1969</small>
- Urothoe chosani <small>Hirayama, 1992</small>
- Urothoe convexa <small>Kim & Kim, 1991</small>
- Urothoe corsica <small>Bellan-Santini, 1965</small>
- Urothoe coxalis <small>Griffiths, 1974</small>
- Urothoe cuspis <small>Imbach, 1969</small>
- Urothoe dentata <small>Schellenberg, 1925</small>
- Urothoe denticulata <small>Gurjanova, 1951</small>
- Urothoe elegans <small>(Bate, 1857)</small>
- Urothoe elizae <small>Cooper & Fincham, 1974</small>
- Urothoe falcata <small>Schellenberg, 1931</small>
- Urothoe femoralis <small>K. H. Barnard, 1955</small>
- Urothoe gelasina <small>Imbach, 1969</small>
- Urothoe grimaldii <small>Chevreux, 1895</small>
- Urothoe hesperiae <small>Conradi, Lopez-Gonzalez & Bellan-Santini, 1997</small>
- Urothoe intermedia <small>Bellan-Santini & Ruffo, 1986</small>
- Urothoe irrostratus <small>Dana, 1852</small>
- Urothoe latifrons <small>Ren, 1991</small>
- Urothoe marina <small>(Bate, 1857)</small>
- Urothoe marionis <small>Bellan-Santini & Ledoyer, 1987</small>
- Urothoe oniscoides <small>(K. H. Barnard, 1932)</small>
- Urothoe orientalis <small>Gurjanova, 1938</small>
- Urothoe pestai <small>Spandl, 1923</small>
- Urothoe pinnata <small>K. H. Barnard, 1955</small>
- Urothoe platydactyla <small>Rabindranath, 1971</small>
- Urothoe platypoda <small>Griffiths, 1974</small>
- Urothoe poseidonis <small>Reibish, 1905</small>
- Urothoe poucheti <small>Chevreux, 1888</small>
- Urothoe pulchella <small>(Costa, 1853)</small>
- Urothoe rotundifrons <small>J. L. Barnard, 1962</small>
- Urothoe ruber <small>Giles, 1888</small>
- Urothoe serrulidactylus <small>K. H Barnard, 1955</small>
- Urothoe spinidigitata <small>Walker, 1904</small>
- Urothoe tumorosa <small>Griffiths, 1974</small>
- Urothoe varvarini <small>Gurjanova, 1953</small>
- Urothoe vemae <small>J.L. Barnard, 1962</small>
- Urothoe viswanathi <small>Asari, 1998</small>
- Urothoe wellingtonensis <small>Cooper, 1974</small>
References