Saldanha, Springthorpe & Lowry, 2025

Springthorpe, R. T. & Lowry, J. K., 2025, Saldanha, a new genus of melitid amphipod from South Africa (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Senticaudata: Melitidae), Zootaxa 5620 (2), pp. 389-396 : 390

Saldanha gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B6901D89-1938-49CD-9697-6FBBA80828F8

Type species. Melita machaera K.H. Barnard, 1955 , original designation.

Included species. Saldanha includes 1 species: S. machaera (K.H. Barnard, 1955) .

Etymology. Named for Saldanha Bay , a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa.

Diagnosis. Head. Head eyes well developed; lateral cephalic lobe broad, rounded; with anteroventral notch. Mandible palp reduced, thin, weak, 3-articulate, article 3 rectilinear. Maxilla 1 inner plate subtriangular, setose to about halfway along inner margin. Maxilla 2 inner plate with submarginal and marginal setal rows on inner face. Gnathopod 1 not sexually dimorphic; coxa with anteroventral corner produced, rounded, anterior margin concave. Gnathopod 2 left and right gnathopods subequal in size; sexually dimorphic; significantly enlarged in male and female; propodus palm nearly transverse in male and female; dactylus closing along palm. Pereopod 4 coxa posteroventral lobe well developed with rounded corner. Pereopod 6 coxa slightly sexually dimorphic. Pleonites 1–2 dorsally smooth. Pleonite 3 with dorsal spine. Urosomite 1 with 1 dorsal spine. Urosomite 2 with 1 dorsolateral spine and 1 dorsolateral robust seta on each side. Uropod 3 inner ramus scale-like; outer ramus much longer than peduncle, 2-articulate, second article short. Telson deeply cleft, with subapical robust setae, without robust setae on inner and outer margins.

Remarks. Although superficially similar to Melita , Saldanha gen. nov. is excluded from Melita by the reduced mandibular palp, triangular inner plate of maxilla 1 having setae along most of the inner margin, by the submarginal setal row on the inner plate of maxilla 2, by the enlarged gnathopod 2 of both males and females and by the dorsal spine on pleonite 3. Saldanha , differs from Abludomelita Karaman, 1981 , in the reduced mandibular palp (well developed in Abludomelita ), maxilla 2 inner plate submarginal setal row (oblique setal row in Abludomelita ), gnathopod 2 significantly enlarged in male and female (enlarged in male, not in female in Abludomelita ), urosomite 2 without dorsal midline spine (with dorsal midline spine in Abludomelita ) and telson with robust setae on outer margin (without robust setae on outer margin in Abludomelita ). Saldanha is similar to Dentimelita Paz Rios & Pech, 2022 , and Liuomelita Yanrong et al., 2021 , in maxilla 1 which has similar inner plate shape and setation and in the reduced mandibular palp, but differs in head shape, setation of maxilla 2, shape of coxa 1, armature of pleonites 1–3 and urosomite 1, and smooth posterior and ventral margins of epimeron 3.

There are 12 melitid genera with a reduced mandibular palp ( Barnardomelita Labay, 2016 ; Brachina Barnard & Williams, 1995 ; Dentimelita Paz Rios & Pech, 2022 ; Galapsiellus J.L. Barnard, 1976 ; Josephosella Ruffo, 1985 ; Ledoyeromelita Labay, 2016 ; Liuomelita Yanrong et al., 2021 ; Nainaloa Karaman & Barnard, 1979 ; Paraniphargus Tattersall, 1925 ; Rotomelita J.L. Barnard, 1977 and Tegano Barnard & Karaman, 1982 ). Saldanha differs from all these genera as follows: maxilla 1 inner plate subrectangular or subovate with mainly apical setae (triangular and setose along inner margin in Saldanha ), maxilla 2 inner plate submarginal setal row absent (present in Saldanha ) and the form of gnathopod 2 propodus (palm transverse and sculptured in Saldanha ; not of this form in other genera).