Biodiversity of Amphipods

“Back in Belgium, some of the caught specimens are researched very thoroughly, on the morphological as well as on the molecular level. The other specimens are preserved meticulously for further research. There are so many forms that we know nothing or very little of. Creating a complete collection is only possible in the long term”, Cédric tells us. “By means of morphological traits, I try to determine what species we’re dealing with. It’s a work of great precision, because some species differ from each other only very slightly. It’s not uncommon to discover new species. To study them, I draw the amphipod as precisely as possible so that I can directly compare them to related species that have been described earlier. An illustrated description of these “new species” is then published in specialized magazines.”

“Amphipods don’t really have any economic value”, Cédric says. “Unlike shrimp and crabs, they’re not fit for human consumption. But they can’t be missed in the marine food chain, because they’re an important source of food for many kinds of fish, and sometimes for whales as well. Of all animals that occur in the Antarctic Ocean, the amphipod is most diverse. They play a fundamental role in the ecosystems of the Antarctic Ocean. It’s therefore necessary and urgent to gain a sufficient amount of knowledge, so that we can measure the impact of climate changes on the Antarctic ecosystems.”