Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Mysids of the Tribe Mysini (Crustacea: Mysida: Mysidae)

Abstract

Mysids are small shrimp-like crustacean zooplankton that are widely distributed in marine, brackish and fresh waters. Mysids belonging to the tribe Mysini are abundant in near-bottom layers of coastal waters and are important food for juvenile and young fishes. There have been many taxonomic studies of this group, and thus its faunal composition is better known than that of other mysid tribes. Recently, a taxonomic revision was made of Acanthomysis and Parastilomysis. As a result, the taxonomic problems at the genus level were largely resolved in the Mysini. When the geographic distributions of mysinid mysids are arranged by genus, several distinct patterns are evident.