Luckia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Amphipoda |
Family: | Pontogeneiidae |
Genus: | Luckia |
Species: | L. striki
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Binomial name | |
Luckia striki Bellan-Santini & Thurston, 1996
|
Luckia is a genus of amphipod crustaceans in the family Pontogeneiidae, with the sole species Luckia striki.[1] It is found in hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic Ocean.[2]
Luckia have compressed bodies and short rostra.[3] Hatchlings are around 1.5 millimetres (0.1 in) long.[4] Adult females measure approximately 8 millimetres (0.31 in), the length of their first antenna; the second antenna is about half that length. Their body is smooth, and they have no eyes. The joints are slender and linear, with a cleft triangular telson. Their flagella have two parts, and their labrum is whole, with triturative molars. The outer rami are shorter than the inner ones, and they have a smooth third epimeral plate.[3][4]
L. striki are found in hydrothermal vents in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between depths of 1,670 metres (5,480 ft) and 2,250 metres (7,380 ft), in temperatures around 4.26 °C (39.7 °F).[5][6][7] The species has been found in the Lucky Strike site (37°17′N 32°16′W / 37.283°N 32.267°W), over the Rainbow Hydrothermal Field (36°14′N 33°54′W / 36.233°N 33.900°W),[4] and at the Menez Gwen field (37°50′N 31°31′W / 37.833°N 31.517°W).[8]
Amphipods are more common in Pacific hydrothermal vents than in Atlantic ones, and before 1996, only two species, Andaniotes ingens and Hirondellea brevicaudata were known to exist in the Atlantic.[4] The genus was discovered by Denise Bellan-Santini and Michael H. Thurston in 1996, when it was collected in a vent along with shrimps, gastropods, crabs, and limpets at the Lucky Strike site above the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,[4][6] the species's namesake.[9]
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