Two new species of gammarid amphipods from Tunisian fresh waters (Amphipoda, Gammaridae)

Abstract

Abstract This study describes two new species of the genus Echinogammarus from springs and rivers located in northern Tunisia. These two species are related to the Echinogammarus simoni-group, but differ from those species in terms of several characteristics, such as a 3-articulated accessory flagellum of the first antennae, the lack of a dense setation on the second antennae, the presence of lateral setae on the telson and the lack of plumose setae on uropod 3. The first species, Echinogammarus carthaginiensis n. sp., is easily distinguishable from the second, Echinogammarus tunetanus n. sp., by the setation on the mandibular palp and gnathopods and the relative length of uropods 1 and 3. A full description of the two new species and information about their distribution is given in this paper.