PORCUPINE MARINE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

18
quality (Ketmaier et al, 2003). Sand-hoppers
have a particularly low ability to disperse
between beaches that are discontinuous. Some
offshore sub-tidal sandbanks are also relatively
isolated, which could allow some populations
of H. arenarius to slightly diverge from the
more familiar beach inhabiting ones. This could
include growing to slightly larger sizes on some
offshore tide swept sandbanks.
Only two other species in the genus
Haustorius are known on the eastern side
of the north Atlantic, but both live much
further south on Mediterranean and North
African beaches, (Bellan-Santini, 2005). On
the American side of the Atlantic, in addition
to H. canadensis which has many similarities
with H. arenarius, there are a number of closely
related genera, often with several species
(Barnard, 1969; Bousfield, 1965; 1970; 1973).
Some of these American species live offshore
on the continental shelf down to about 100
m, while others occupy separate ecological
niches on beaches and in estuaries (Croker,
1967). The difference between the diversity of
taxa in the Haustoriinae at similar temperate
latitudes on opposite sides of the Atlantic
seems noteworthy, as is the spread of habitats
occupied by the single Haustorius species
found in Britain and Ireland. Perhaps, sharing
ancestry with H. canadensis, the British species
may be a geologically recent colonist and,
without related competitors, has occupied the
wider habitat range.
Figure 1. Location of Bais Bank off north
Pembrokeshire, where a significant population of
Haustorius arenarius was found
PMNHS Newsletter No.24 Summer 2008
REFERENCES
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Bellan-Santini, D. 2005. European
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Haustoriidae), with description of a new
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Bousfield, E.L. 1970. Adaptive radiation
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Bousfield, E.L. 1973. Shallow-Water
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Carter, R.W.G. 1988. Coastal Environments.
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Dahl, E. 1952. Some aspects of the ecology
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Darbyshire, T., Mackie, A.S.Y., May, S.J.
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Dennell, R. 1933. The habits and feeding
mechanisms of the amphipod Haustorius
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Dyer, K.R. and Huntley, D.A. 1999. The
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