Phylum: Arthropoda, Crustacea Alamprops quadriplicata Class: Multicrustacea, Malacostraca, Eumalacostraca Order: Peracarida, Cumacea Family: Lampropidae Taxonomy: Originally described by Smith in terminal setae (Watling 2007). 1879 as Lamprops quadriplicata. Genus Cephalon: A carapace covers the cephalon changed to Alamprops in 2018 (Watling and and first three thoracic somites and is expand- Gerken 2019). ed on either side to form a branchial chamber (Watling 2007). Description Eyes: Female lacks eyes, as in most Size: The holotype, described from Vancou- cumaceans (Fig. 1). Males, on the other ver Island, was 11 mm in length (Hart 1930). hand, have well developed eyes (Lamprops, The illustrated female (from Coos Bay) was Sars 1900) (e.g. Fig. 3). 6 mm long (Fig. 1). Antennae: The first antenna is well de- Color: Light brown, with dark brown on car- veloped in females with 4–5 articles apace and chromatophores (Hart 1930). (Lampropridae, Fage 1951) (Fig. 1). The However, Procter (1933) describes that the second antenna is short in females (not carapace can be divided by a diagonal line visible in Fig. 1). In males, the second that is just posterior to the antero-ventral antenna is with articulated flagellum that is notch, with the anterior a greenish color and rather prehensile, but is generally concealed the posterior a deep brown (in Zimmer and used for clasping in copulation (Sars 1980). Descriptions of color in the Cumacea 1900). are difficult as many species were described Mouthparts: Siphon of maxilliped based on preserved material, where the co- clearly visible (Figs. 1) (other mouthparts not lor fades. figured.) General Morphology: Cumaceans are eas- Carapace: Carapace is with four ily recognizable by a large and inflated cara- oblique parallel lines on each side (hence the pace and a (relatively) slender, flexible thor- name, quadriplicata) (Smith 1879) (Fig. 1). ax and abdomen (Kozloff 1993; Gerken and (Note: Fig. 3 is a close-up of L. fasciata, with Martin 2014). Their bodies can be divided only three parallel lines, for comparison.) into these three major regions: the cepha- Rostrum: Two pseudorostral lobes lon (head) that is covered by a carapace (together called a pseudorostrum), or exten- and includes the first five pairs of appendag- sions of the carapace, extend anteriorly but es (antennae, mandibles, maxillae, collec- do not fuse in front of the head in cumaceans tively the mouthparts). Posterior to the (Watling 2007). The pseudorostrum in female cephalon is the pereon (thorax), usually A. quadriplicata is short and obtuse (Sars consisting of five thoracic somites, followed 1900) (Fig. 1), while in males, it does not ex- by the pleon (abdomen) with consistently tend beyond anterolateral corners (Hart 1930) six pleonites. The fifth pleonite is usually the (Fig. 3). longest and the pleonites are lacking pleo- Pereon: Consists of five thoracic somites, pods in female individuals. The cumacean each with paired appendages (pereopods). family Lampropidae is characterized by a freely articulating telson with three or more A publication of the University of Oregon Libraries and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology Individual species: https://oimb.uoregon.edu/oregon-estuarine-invertebrates and full 3rd edition: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18839 Email corrections to: [email protected] Hiebert, T.C. 2015. Alamprops quadriplicata. In: Oregon Estuarine Invertebrates: Rudys' Illustrated Guide to Common Species, 3rd ed. T.C. Hiebert, B.A. Butler and A.L. Shanks (eds.). University of Oregon Libraries and Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Charles- ton, OR. Pereopods: Female with exopodites are 1500 species worldwide, approximately on pereopods one and two and rudimentary 50 of which occur on the Pacific coast of the exopodites on pereopods three and four United States (Watling 2007; Gerken and (Fig. 1). Male exopodites on all five Martin 2014). Cumaceans belong to the pereopods (Lampropridae, Watling 1979) Malacostraca, and are characterized by a (Fig. 3). carapace that covers the first three or four Pleon: Consists of six segments (Fig. 1). thoracic somites. They also have an anterior Pleopods: All female cumaceans extension (pseudolobes), a telson that is lack pleopods (Fig. 1) and males in the ge- present or reduced and fused with the last nus Alamprops are also lacking pleopods pleonite, eyes that are united dorsally, a (Kozloff 1974) (Fig. 3). second antenna that is without an exopod and Telson: Telson is free and distinct (compare pleopods that are absent in females and can to Leuconidae and Nannastacidae). Male be absent or reduced in males (Watling telson has five terminal spines of about 2007). equal length (Watling 1979) (Fig. 2a) and The superorder Peracarida includes females have 3–5 terminal spines, but they cumaceans, mysids, isopods, tanaids and are not all equal in length (Kozloff 1974). amphipods. Cumaceans can be separated The telson also has two to three pairs of lat- from mysids by their single compound eye eral spines (two pairs in most females, Giv- (particularly in the males), as mysids have en 1965). The telson length is equal to or large stalked eyes. Mysids have a carapace slightly longer than uropod peduncle (Smith which covers the entire thorax, while cuma- 1879) and is truncate (Fig. 2). ceans have several posterior segments ex- Uropods: Uropod peduncles about equal to posed. Euphausiids belong to the superorder telson in length (Watling 2007; Smith 1879) Eucarida (along with decapods) and are pe- and uropod endopods have three articles lagic and marine, but might occasionally be each (Lampropidae, Watling 1979) (Fig. 2). found in estuaries. They have biramous tho- Cumacean uropod exopods are always biar- racic appendages (cumacean pereopods are ticulate (Watling 1979). uniramous, with some thoracic exopodites). Sexual Dimorphism: Females lack eyes Additionally, euphausiids have strong pleo- and mature individuals can be recognized by pods for swimming and cumacean pleopods, the presence of a brood pouch. Female and when present, are small. immature individuals of both sexes have 3–5 The four local cumacean families can apical telson spines, while males have five be divided into those with a freely articulated subequal spines. Five exopodites occur on telson and those without, the former comprise pereopods in males compared to two the Lampropidae and Diastylidae, while the exopodites, in addition to two rudimentary latter comprise the Leuconidae and Nan- ones, in females. Males also have long se- nastacidae (Watling 2007). Cumacean fami- cond antennal flagella. lies that lack an articulated telson are consist- ently monophyletic on molecular phylogenies Possible Misidentifications and are likely derived within the Cumacea Cumaceans are very small (range 1 (Haye et al. 2004). However, morphological mm–1 cm) shrimp-like crustaceans. Their characters used to differentiate cumacean heads and thorax are fused to form a families (e.g. number of pleopods in males) carapace, the abdomen is tubular and the may be homoplasious (see Haye et al. 2004). uropods are slender and biramous. There The Lampropidae have three or more terminal A publication of the University of Oregon Libraries and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology Individual species: https://oimb.uoregon.edu/oregon-estuarine-invertebrates and full 3rd edition: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18839 Email corrections to: [email protected] setae on the telson while the Diastylidae carapace lacks the four oblique folds of A. have only 0–2. Diastylidae males can have quadriplicata. It has five terminal telson two or zero pairs of pleopods and the Lam- spines, but no lateral ones. propidae can have three or zero. Uropod Alamprops quadriplicata is perhaps endopods in diastylids can have two or three most similar to the large European Lamprops articles and in lampropids there are always fasciatus, which is also found in Alaska. In three. fact, the two are so similar previous In the Diastylidae there are five local researchers have thought them synonymous species in three genera including Anchico- (Zimmer 1980). L. fasciatus has only three lurus and Diastylopsis (one local species oblique folds on its carapace, not four. Like each) and Diastylis (three local species) A. quadriplicata, it has five apical telson (Watling 2007). The Lampropidae includes spines, but they are unequal in length, the six local species in the genera outermost and middle ones being the longest Hemilamprops and Mesolamprops (each (Smith 1879). In addition, L. fasciatus has with one local species) and the Alamprops strong transverse brownish violet pigment (four local species, see A. quadriplicata, this bands, from which it derives its name and guide). females can be up to nine mm in length (Sars Hemilamprops californiensis occurs 1900). from northern California to Vancouver Island Ecological Information (Lie 1969). This genus is noted for its long, Range: Type region is along the northeast slender body and small carapace with a Atlantic coast (Smith 1879). Range includes rounded anterolateral edge. Hemilamprops the Atlantic coast of North America as well as species lack the four carapace folds of A. the Arctic coasts of Alaska and the Pacific quadriplicata, although H. californica has coast from Alaska south to Oregon and cen- one recurved fold on its carapace. tral California. Range also includes the north- Hemilamprops californiensis also has three west Pacific including Kamchatka, the Kuriles pairs of male pleopods, and 3–4 pairs of and Peter the Great Bay (Given 1965). lateral telson spines, while A. quadriplicata Local Distribution: Oregon distribution in has 0 and 3–5, respectively. Mesolamprops Coos Bay, Yaquina Bay, and the Columbia dillonensis is characterized by its two pairs River Estuary. of male pleopods (Given 1964), while Alam- Habitat: Sandy or muddy benthic habitats props males have no pleopods. Mesolam- (Sars 1900). Prefers grains smaller than 200 props dillonensis has been found in northern µm in diameter (Wieser 1956). The California. There are several other species abundance, small size and sensitivity make A. of Alamprops in the northeastern Pacific in- quadriplicata and other cumaceans the cluding A.