SUBFAMILY PARAMESOCHRINAE Huys, 1987


APODOPSYLLUS Huys, 2009

The genus Apodopsyllus was informally erected by Kunz (1962) and recently formally put to nomenclaturical correctness by Huys (2009). "The genus is commonly found in the interstices of fine sands. Its members attained a vermiform body shape, which is accompanied by a conspicuous reduction in the swimming legs. They adapted a gliding way of movement in order to facilitate wriggling around and between the sand grains (Huys 1988)" (Amorri et al., 2009). At present the genus includes 27 species and subspecies.


  • Apodopsyllus aberrans Mielke, 1964 (?)
  • Apodopsyllus arcuatus Mielke, 1984 [Galapagos; marine, sandy beaches]
  • Apodopsyllus adaptatus (Krishnaswamy, 1957) [India; marine ]
  • Apodopsyllus africanus africanus Kunz, 1962 [south Africa; marine sandy beaches]
  • Apodopsyllus africanus listensis Mielke, 1975 [north Sea]
  • Apodopsyllus alejandrovilallobosi Gomez, 2002 [Mexico; coastal lagoons]
  • Apodopsyllus arenicolus (Chappuis, 1954) [Africa, Algerie; marine sandy beaches]
  • Apodopsyllus bermudensis Coull & Hogue, 1978 [Bermuda; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus biarticulatus Cottarelli & Altamura, 1986 [Philippines; marine coastal interstitial]
  • Apodopsyllus camptus Wells, 1971 [south India; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus chilensis Mielke, 1987 [Chile; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus cubensis Mielke, 1988 [Cuba; marine coastal interstitial]
  • Apodopsyllus depressus (Krishnaswamy, 1957) [India; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus gabesensis Amorri et al., 2009 [Tunisia]
  • Apodopsyllus gwakjiensis Back & Lee, 2012 [Korea; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus lynceorum Cottarelli, 1971 [Italy; marine coastal interstitial]
  • Apodopsyllus littoralis (Nicholls, 1939) [north Europe; north Africa; marine sandy beaches]
  • Apodopsyllus madrasensis Krishnaswamy, 1951 [India; marine sandy beaches]
  • Apodopsyllus melitae Kunz, 1992 [Yugoslavia; marine sandy beaches]
  • Apodopsyllus panamensis Mielke, 1984 [Panama; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus perplexus (Wells, 1963)
  • Apodopsyllus pseudocubensis Gomez, 2002 [Mexico; coastal lagoons]
  • Apodopsyllus reductus (Petkovski, 1955) [Europe; marine sandy beaches] (=Apodopsyllus perplexus (Wells, 1963)
  • Apodopsyllus regulexstans Mielke, 1984
  • Apodopsyllus samuelgomezi Gomez, 2002 [Mexico; coastal lagoons]
  • Apodopsyllus schulzi (Noodt, 1964) [Red Sea]
  • Apodopsyllus spinipes (Nicholls, 1939) [north Europe, Scotland; marine coastal sand]
  • Apodopsyllus unguiformis Coull & Hogue, 1978 [?; ?]
  • Apodopsyllus unisetosus Back & Lee, 2012 [Korea; marine]
  • Apodopsyllus vermiculiformis Lang, 1965 [USA; marine]


    Keys to species of the genus Apodopsyllus Huys, 2009


    KLIOPSYLLUS Kunz, 1962 [ syn. KRISHNAPSYLLUS Kunz, 1974]

    [Recently Huys (2009) replaced Kliopsyllus with the senior synonym Emertonia Wilson, 1932]

  • Emertonia acutata (Klie, 1935)
  • Emertonia acutifurcatus (Mielke, 1985) [Chile; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia andeep (G. Veit-Kohle, 2004) [Antarctic Sea]
  • Emertonia atlanticus (Kunz, 1983) [Azores Islands; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia berndi Mathiske et al., 2021 [Chile]
  • Emertonia brevicaudatua (Kornev & Chertoprud, 2008) (syn. Kliopsyllus brevicaudatus Kornev & Chertoprud, 2008)
  • Emertonia californicus (Kunz, 1981) [USA; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia capensis (Krishnaswamy, 1957) [India; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia chilensis (Mielke, 1985) [Chile; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia clausi Pointner et al., 2013 [Angola and Guinea basin]
  • Emertonia coelebs (Monard, 1935) [France; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia constrictus constrictus (Nicholls, 1935) [north Europe; marine sand]
  • Emertonia constrictus egypticus (Mitwally & Montagna, 2001) [Egypt; sandy beaches]
  • Emertonia constrictus orotavae (Noodt, 1958) [Canary Islands; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia constrictus pacificus (Mielke, 1984) [Panama; marine]
  • Emertonia debilis (Kunz, 1981) [Hawai; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia diva (Veit-Kohler, 2005) [Angola; marine]
  • Emertonia enalia (Krishnaswamy, 1957) [India; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia furcavaricatus (Kunz, 1974) [Africa; marine]
  • Emertonia gracilis Wilson C.B., 1932
  • Emertonia hessleri Mathiske et al., 2021 [Chile]
  • Emertonia holsaticus holsaticus (Klie, 1929) [Germany; marine sand] *
  • Emertonia holsaticus listensis (Mielke, 1984)
  • Emertonia holsaticus longicaudatus (Galhano, 1970) [Portugal; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia holsaticus varians (Kunz, 1951) [Africa, marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia idiotes (Wells, 1967) [Africa, Mozambique; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia ingridae Pointner et al., 2013 [Angola and Guinea basin]
  • Emertonia insularis (Kunz, 1981) [Hawai; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia ilse Mathiske et al., 2021 [Chile]
  • Emertonia koreana Back & Lee, 2017 [Korea]
  • Emertonia laurenticus (Nicholls, 1939)
  • Emertonia longifurcata (Scheibel, 1975
  • Emertonia longisetosus (Krishnaswamy, 1951) [India; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia major (Nicholls, 1939) [Canada; marine] (=Kliopsyllus major (Nicholls, 1939)
  • Emertonia miguelensis (Kunz, 1983) [Azores Islands; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia masryi (Bodin, 1979) [France; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia minor (Vasconcelos et al., 2009) [Brazil: deep sea] (syn. Scottopsyllus minor (Scott T. & Scott A., 1895); Wellsopsyllus (Scottopsyllus) minor (Scott, T. & Scott A., 1895)
  • Emertonia minutus (Krishnaswamy, 1957) [India, Italy; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia panamensis (Mielke, 1984) [Panama; marine]
  • Emertonia paraholsatica (Mielke, 1975)
  • Emertonia perharidiensis (Wells, 1963) [Ireland, England; marine, brackish coastal waters]
  • Emertonia pontica (Serban, 1959) [Black Sea] (syn. Kliopsyllus ponticus (Serban, 1959)
  • Emertonia pygmaeus (Nicholls, 1939)
  • Emertonia psammophilus (Noodt, 1964)
  • Emertonia psammobionta (Noodt, 1964)
  • Emertonia pseudogracilis (Krishnaswamy, 1957) [India; marine coastal waters]
  • Emertonia regulexstans (Mielke, 1984) [Panama; marine]
  • Emertonia serrata Mathiske et al., 2021 [Chile]
  • Emertonia simplex Back & Lee, 2017 [Korea]
  • Emertonia similis (Mielke, 1984) [Panama; marine]
  • Emertonia schminkei (Veit-Kohler & J. Drewes, 2009) [southeast Atlantic] (syn. Kliopsyllus schminkei Veit-Köhler & Drewes, 2009)
  • Emertonia spiniger spiniger (Wells, Kunz & Rao, 1975) (syn. Kliopsyllus spiniger Wells, Kunz & Rao, 1975; Kliopsyllus spiniger spiniger Wells, Kunz & Rao, 1975) [Andaman Islands; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia spiniger ornatus (Kunz, 1981) [Hawai; marine interstitial]
  • Emertonia unguiseta (Mielke, 1984) [Panama; marine]

    * synonyms : Paramesochra holsatica Klie, 1929; Paramesochra pygmaea Nicholls, 1939

    INCERTAE SEDIS : Kliopsyllus arenicolus (Krishnaswamy, 1957); Kliopsyllus wilsoni (Krishnaswamy, 1957); Kliopsyllus longifurcatus Scheibel, 1975, Kliopsyllus paraholsaticus Mielke, 1975; Kliopsyllus gracilis (Wilson, 1932); Emertonia gracilis Wilson, 1932; Paramesochra laurentiaca Nicolls, 1939; Paramesochra arenicola Krishnaswamy, 1957; Paramesochra wilsoni krishnaswamy, 1957.


    LEPTOPSYLLUS T. Scott, 1894

    subgenus Leptopsyllus s.str. Kunz, 1981
    subgenus Paraleptopsyllus Lang, 1944


  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) abyssalis Becker, Noodt & Schriever, 1979 [?: ?]
  • Leptopsyllus adaptatus Krishnaswamy, 1957 (syn. Apodopsyllus adaptatus (Krishnaswamy, 1957)
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) celticus Bodin & Jackson, 1987 [north Europe; marine]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) dubatyi Soyer, 1975 [Kerguelen; mesopsammon]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) elongatus Drzycimski, 1967 [Norway; marine coastal waters]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) harveyi Wells, 1963 [England; brackish coastal waters]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) koreanus Back & Lee, 2017 [Korea; subtidal zone]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) paratypicus Nicholls, 1939 [UK; marine interstitial]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) platyspinosus Mielke, 1984 [Galapagos; marine, sandy beaches]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) punctatus Mielke, 1984 [Galapagos; marine, sandy beaches]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) pundius Back & Lee, 2017 [Korea; subtidal zone]
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) reductus Lang, 1948 (syn.Leptopsyllus perplexus Wells, 1963)
  • Leptopsyllus robertsoni Scott T. & Scott A., 1895
  • Leptopsyllus (Leptopsyllus) typicus T. Scott, 1894
  • Leptopsyllus (Paraletopsyllus) arcticus (Lang, 1936) [Spitzbergen; marine]
  • Leptopsyllus (?) littoralis Nicholls, 1939 [UK; marine interstitial]
  • Leptopsyllus (?) spinipes Nicholls, 1939 [UK; marine interstitial]


    KEY TO SPECIES OF LEPTOPSYLLUS



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