Neomysis integer (Leach) (Crustacea: Mysidacea): Records and Distribution in IrelandAuthor(s): Miles ParkerSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 19, No. 10 (Apr., 1979), pp. 339-342Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25540498 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 07:59

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The IrishNaturalists' Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 07:59:09 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 19 No. 10. 1979 339

NEOMYS1S INTEGER (LEACH) (CRUSTACEA : MYSIDACEA): RECORDS AND DISTRIBUTION IN IRELAND

Miles Parker

Neomysis integer (Leach) is a common mysid of European inshore, estuarine and coastal waters (Tattersall and Tattersall 1951). It is usually found in lower salinities than other mysids (Rubin 1972) apart from the freshwater Mysis relicta Lovern. Consequently, it is often recorded from brackish habitats such as sea loughs (Mauchline 1971), lagoons (Vorstman 1961, Barnes et al 1971), and small ponds (Nicol 1935, Barnes and Jones 1972). It is also common in the Baltic Sea (Kinne 1955, Muus 1967).

In the course of a study of an Irish population of N. integer in a brackish lough (L. Furnace, Co Mayo; Parker and West 1978) the known Irish distribution

was examined (Table 1). John Vaughan Thompson first recorded, described and named Mysis vulgaris in Cork Harbour in 1828; his synonym (as Mysis or Neomysis vulgaris) has been used until recently, though Tattersall and Tattersall (1951) con sider the specific integer (Leach) to have priority. It was subsequently collected

TABLE 1. Published Records of Neomysis integer (Leach)

REFERENCE LOCATION GRID REF NOMENCLATURE

Thompson (1828) R. Lee estuary W 6872 Mysis vulgaris Co Cork

Thompson (1847) Baliyholme Bay J 5982 Co Down

Lahinch, Co Clare R0988 Kinahan (1857) iR. Dodder estuary O 1834

Co Dublin Merrion Strand O2031

Co Dublin Melville (1857) Galway Marine ? ?

District Rankin (1907) Kinsale, Co Cork W 6450 Neomysis vulgaris

Aghada Marshes il. Lee estuary W8666

Co Cork Near Youghal X 1378 ?

Co Cork Tattersall (1912) L. Learn F 6527

The Mullet Co Mayo

MacDonald *& Donnybrewer ? Mysis vulgaris ? McMillan (1951) (L. Foyle,

Co Derry) Parker & West L. Furnace L 9797 Neomysis integer

(1978) Co Mayo

from the same area (Aghada) and from Kinsale by Rankin (1907) who also mentioned its presence in a small bog pool near Youghal that had once been invaded by the sea. F. Balfour Browne lodged specimens in the National Museum of Ireland in 1907 from a "freshwater pool" near Youghal, which may have been the same one. In more recent times McCarthy (pers. comm.) has found N. integer at Rostellan 'lake', near Aghada, and at the wet lands of Ballynamona (including the lake') near Ballycotton. He has also found it in salt marsh pools at Ventry on the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry. There are no published records from the south

west; it is not included in the Valentia Island Fauna (Beaumont 1900). Most of the Irish records are from the west coast. Thompson (1847) recorded it from Lahinch, in Co Clare, and Melville (1857) listed it among the Crustacea of the Galwav Marine

District (Loop Head to Slyne Head). More recently, Murray (1977) lists it among

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 07:59:09 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

340 lr. Nat. J. Vol. 19 No. 10. 1979

TABLE 2. Previously Unpublished Records of Neomysis integer

RECORDER DATE LOCALITY GRID REF.

Bates R. 1977 Lady's Island, T1005 Co Wexford

Blackith, R. E. 1969 Glenamoy R. F8837 Co Mayo

Havward, P. J.* 1969, '72 Termoncarragh L. F6630 Cross L. F 6635

The Mullet Peninsula,

Co M'ayo

Holmes, J. M. C. 1977 Newcastle Marshes O3106 Co Wicklow

McCarthy, K. 1978 Ballynamona W9865 Co Cork

Rostellan W 8765 Co Cork

Ventry V 3798 Co Kerry

McGrath, D. 1976 Tacumshin L. T0505 Co Wexford

Carnsore Pt. T 1203 Co Wexford

Murray, A.* 1977 Galway Bay Parker, M. 1972 Baldoyle Harbour O 2440

Co Dublin 1973 R. Moy estuary G 2621

76, 77 Co Mayo Redmond, M. 1977 North Slobs T0723

Co Wexford West, A. B. 1976 Inch Lough G3523

Co Donegal

These records are printed in manuscript or mimeo form and are referred to in the bibliography.

the mysids of the Galway Bay area, having taken it at low water on sandy shores on all sides of the bay and also in Galway Docks within the limit of the tidal influence. During the Clare Island survey, N. integer was not found at the Island

but it was recorded in the brackish loughs of the Mullet (Tattersall 1912; this record is also given by Farren 1915). Its presence there has been confirmed by recent expeditions from Reading University (Hayward 1969, 1972) and it is found in similar conditions in Lough Furnace, a brackish water lake linked to inner Clew

Bay (Parker and West 1978). (The previous record by de Burgh and Smart (1969), of Leptomysis gracilis (G. O. Sars) from this lough is almost certainly incorrect). It has also been recorded from a tidal tributary of the Glenamoy river (at Annie Brady's Bridge) (Blackith, pers. comm.) and the author has found it in 1973, 1976 and 1977 in the estuary of the River Moy below Ballina. In Co* Donegal, it was taken at Dungloe from a 'brackish pool' by the Hon. G. W. Hely-Hutchinson in 1900; two sets of his specimens are lodged in the National Museum. An additional set of specimens, apparently collected at the same time and place was later given to the Museum by the Fisheries Branch (D.A.T.I.) and is now on display. More recently, West (pers. comm.) has recorded N. integer in Inch Lough, a shallow brackish lake, separated from the main body of L. Swilly by embankments connect ing Inch Island to the mainland. Surprisingly, MacDonald and McMillan (1951) did not find N. integer in Lough Foyle; they only recorded Praunus jlexuosus (Muller) from a brackish pool. However, in a section on brackish habitats,

McMillan states that in the wide brackish ditches inside the embankments at Donnybrewer "the fauna includes such species as Potamopyrgus jenkinsi, as well as Gammarus, Mysisy Sphaeroma and Corixa spp". 'Mysis? in this context is unlikely to be the freshwater My sis reticia, and may perhaps refer to My sis vulgaris, the older synonym of Neomysis integer.

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 07:59:09 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 19 No. 10. 1979 341

TABLE 3. Origins of specimens in the National Museum of IrelandCD

REGISTER NO. LOCALITY OF ORIGIN GRID REF.

176 : 1900? Dungloe, Co Donegal B7611

200 : 1907 Nr. Youghal, Co Cork X 1378?

?(3) Magheramorne, Co Down J 4498

116 : 1915 Swords R. estuary, Co Dublin O 1947

1. All specimens may be located at SSP47/3 in the National Museum's store. 2. Listed in the classified catalogue as 382 : 1909. 3 sets of specimens. 3. Though dated 1912 on the label, this item does not appear in the register for that

year.

In the north-east, N. integer (as Mysis vulgaris) was first recorded by William Thompson (1847) from Ballyholme Bay on the outer edge of Belfast Lough

and in 1912, R. Welch deposited specimens in the National Museum of Ireland from a "brackish pool" at Magheramorne in Larne Lough. A more recent survey of inner Belfast Lough (Austin 1976) failed to demonstrate its presence; however, N. integer is known to be intolerant of pollution (Jorgensen, 1929). MacDonald

(1939) and Williams (1953) do not include it in their fauna lists from Ardglass Harbour and Strangford Lough respectively.

On the east coast, the first records were those of Kinahan (1857) from the estuary of the River Dodder and from tide pools on Merrion Strand. (This record was published simultaneously in three different journals and that of Melville

(1857) was published twice. This was due to the habit of publishing the proceed ings of the Dublin Natural History Society in their own right and also verbatim

m the Nat. Hist. Rev., Dublin and London. However, when Farran et al, (1908) drew up their list of coastal Crustacea in this area N. integer was not included, though, in 1915, the Fisheries Branch donated to the National Museum some

specimens collected from the Swords River estuary in July 1912. It was not found

during the Bull Island Survey (Healy 1977) nor did the author find it elsewhere within Dublin Bay or in Booterstown marshes; it was present, however, with Praunus flexuosus, in Baldoyle Harbour in 1972. Further south, it has been taken from the Newcastle Marshes, Co Wicklow (Holmes pers. comm.) and from the

Main and Raven Channels of the North Slobs in Wexford Harbour (Redmond ryQis. comm.). McGrath (pers. comm.) has found it in Tacumshin Lough and Bates

(pers. comm.) found four specimens among several hundred P. flexuosus in samples from Lady's Island Lake, both in Co Wexford. McGrath also found it at low

water on the shore at Camsore Point.

Neomysis integer has thus been found all around the Irish coast. Most records are from areas of lowered salinity, usually estuaries or brackish enclosures. Its wide distribution would suggest, however, that occasional coastal movements

must occur. It is known to be an irregular occupier of tidal enclosures (Barnes et al

1971, Parker and West 1978) and in certain circumstances it has been shown to

migrate seawards in winter (Kinne 1955, Barnes et al. 1977). Though absent from the species lists for both Ardglass Harbour, Co Down (MacDonald 1939) and

Valentia Island (Beaumont 1900), its presence at the shore line has been demonstra ted both at Camsore Point (McGrath pers. comm.) and in Galway Bay (Murray 1977). Studies of seasonality in inshore and surf zone plankton would provide more information.

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Brian West and David McGrath for their advice on this paper and to Brian West, Robert Blackith, Mark Holmes, Kieran McCarthy,

David McGrath, Aidan Murray, Dick Bates, Michael Redmond and Oscar Merne for permission to use their unpublished records.

Fisheries Research Centre, Abbotstown, Castleknock, Co Dublin.

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 07:59:09 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

342 Ir. Nat J. Vol. 19 No. 10, 1979

REFERENCES

Austin, J. (1976) Preliminary observations on the Mysid fauna of Belfast Lough. Ir. Nat. J.

18 : 276-277.

Barnes, R. S. K., Dorey, A. E. and Little, C. (1971) An ecological study of a pool subject to

varying salinity (Swanpool, Falmouth). An introductory account of the Flora and

Fauna. J. Anirn. EcoL 20 : 790-734.

-and Jones, J. M. (1972) Observations on the flora and fauna at Calshot, Hampshire. Proc. Hants. Field Club ArcheoL Soc. 29 : 81-91.

-, Williams, A., Little, C. and Dorey, A. E. (1977) An ecological study of the Swan

pool, Falmouth. IV: Population fluctuations of some dominant macrofauna. First

European Ecological Symposium, Norwich, September 1977. (In Press).

Beaumont, W. (1900) Report on the results of dredging and shore-collecting. In The Fauna

and Flora of Valentia Harbour; II. The Benthos. Proc. R. Ir. Acad. 31 : 754-798.

de Burgh, M. and Smart, J. (1969) Report on the Hydrography of Lough Furnace and its

planktonic and littoral organisms. Ann. Rep. Salmon Res. Tr. Ir. 14 : 35-47.

Farran, G. ?. (1915) Results of biological survey of Blacksod Bay, Co Mayo. Fisheries, Ireland, ScL Invest. 1914. No. ///.

-, Kemp, S. and Tattersall, W. M. (1908) Crustacea. In Handbook to the City of Dublin and surrounding district. Dublin, The British Association, pp. 177-183.

Hayward, P. J. (Ed.) (1969) Mullet, 1969. Report of the Zoological Society Expedition to the Mullet Peninsula, Co Mayo. Aug. 9th- September 26th, 1969. University of Reading, Zoo. Soc, MS., No pagination.

- (1972) Mullet, 1970-1972. Further contributions to the Zoology of the Mullet. Ibid.

Healy, B. (1977) Marine Fauna Check List. In Jeffrey, D. W. (General Ed.). North Bull Island, Dublin Bay?a modem coastal natural history. Dublin, The Royal Dublin Society. pp. 141-146.

Jorgensen, O. M. (1929) The Plankton of the River Tyne Estuary. Proc. U. Durham Phil. Soc. 8 : 41-54.

Kinahan, J. R. (1857) A Cranqon new to science, with notes of other non-descript Crustacea and observations on the distribution of the Crustacea of Podophthalmia of the Eastern, or Dublin Marine, district of Ireland. Nat. Hist. Rev. (Dublin and London). 4:80. (The same record, under the same title, appears in Proc. Dublin nat. Hist. Soc.

1856-1859, 2:27-33, and in Zoologist London, Ser. 1, 15:5773-5779).

Kinne, O. (1955) Neomysis vulgaris Thompson, erne autokologisch-biologische Studie. Biol. Zentrabl. 74 : 160-202.

MacDonald, R. (1939) The marine Crustacea of Ardglass Harbour, Co Down. Ann. Mag. nat Hist. Ser. II, 3 : 632-635. - and McMillan, N. F. (1951) The natural history of Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland. Proc. R. Ir. Acad. 54B 5: 67-^6.

Mauchline, J. (1971) The biology of Neomysis integer. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 51 : 347-354.

Melville, A. G. (1857) Carcinoiogical Notes; being a list of the Crustacea Podophthalmia of the Galway District chiefly made during the summer of 1850. Nat. Hist. Rev. (Dublin & London) 4: 151-153. (Also in Proc. Dublin, nat. Hist Soc. 2: 70).

Murray, A. (1977) An account of the Mysidacea and Euphausiacea of Galway Bay and adjacent areas. Unpublished thesis, M.Sc. Qualifying Exam. Zoology Department,

University College, Galway.

Muus, B. J. (1967) The fauna of Danish Estuaries and Lagoons. Meddr. Dann. Fisk. og Havunders. N.S. 5:1-326.

Nicol, E. A. T. (1935) The ecology of a salt marsh. J. mar. biol Ass. U.K. 20:203-261.

Parker, M. M. & West, B. (1978) The natural history of Neomysis integer (Leach) in Lough Furnace, Co Mayo, a brackish lough in the west of Ireland. Est. and Coastal mar. Set (In Press).

Rankin, W. (1907) Schizopoda. Ir. Nat 16 : 301.

Rubin, J. (1972) The distribution of two species of Mysid in the Mullet peninsula. In Hayward (1972).

Tattersall, W. (1912) Nebaliacea, Cumacea, Schizopoda and Stomatopoda. Clare Island Survey. Proc. R. Ir. Acad. 31 : Part 41.

?-and Tattersall, O. S. (1951) The British Mysidacea. The Ray Society, London.

Thompson, J. V. (1828) On the Genus My sis or Opossum Shrimp. Zoological Researches, No. 1, Memoir II, pp. 13-31.

Thompson, W. (1847) Additions to the Fauna of Ireland (continued). Ann. Mag. nat Hist Ser. 1, 20 : 237-250. (Also in Natural History of Ireland Vol. 4, 1856, p. 399).

Vorstman, A. G. (1951) A year's investigation on the life cycle of Neomysis vulgaris Thompson. Verh. Int. Verein. theor. angew. Limnol. 11 : 437-445.

Williams, G. (1953) The Fauna of Strangford Lough and neighbouring coasts. Proc. R. Ir. Acad. 56B : 29-133.

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 07:59:09 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions