Paracalliope is a genus of amphipod crustaceans that live in Australasia. They include the most common freshwater amphipods in New Zealand, where they are particularly frequent in slow-flowing reaches of rivers.[2] They shelter among weed beds and are important prey items for fish such as the New Zealand smelt, Retropinna retropinna, which are in turn important prey for the freshwater eels Anguilla australis and Anguilla dieffenbachii. Paracalliope acts as an intermediate host for the nematode Hedruris spinigera, which can thus reach their primary host, the eel.[3]

Paracalliope
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Amphipoda
Family: Paracalliopiidae
Genus: Paracalliope
Stebbing, 1899
Type species
Calliope fluviatilis
Thomson, 1879 [1]

Species

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Ten species have been described:[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ "Genus Paracalliope Stebbing, 1899". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  2. ^ "Paracalliope". More information on macroinvertebrates. Waitakere City Council. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  3. ^ D. J. Jellyman (1989). "Occurrence of the nematode Hedruris spinigera in the stomachs of freshwater eels". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 16: 185–189. doi:10.1080/03014223.1989.10422567.
  4. ^ Wim Vader (2005). "New amphipod species described in the period 1974–2004, ordered by family". Amphipod Newsletter. 30: 1–56. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  5. ^ Graham D. Fenwick (2001). "The freshwater Amphipoda (Crustacea) of New Zealand: a review". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 31 (2): 341–363. doi:10.1080/03014223.2001.9517658.