DIVERSITY OF PANAMANIAN AMPHIPODS (CRUSTACEA) WITHIN THE PARVORDER HADZIIDIRA

Amphipods are a successful order of Crustaceans that inhabit a wide range of environments. Ecosystem services provided by amphipods include nutrient cycling, environmental bioindication, and being an important food source. In Panama, amphipods are understudied, despite the Caribbean being typically well-studied for biodiversity. Amphipods belonging to the parvorder Hadziidira include 1159 species worldwide, yet none have been documented in Panama. The parvorder is divided into 14 families, including amphipods that are typically associated with sponges, coral rubble, or algae. Based on the diversity of hadziidiran amphipods, we hypothesized that there is a high number of amphipods belonging to the parvorder Hadziidira in Panama. Collections from 2005, 2021, and 2023 have revealed 26 species in six hadziidiran families from Bocas del Toro, Panama, which are all new records for the area. The species are described morphologically using light microscopy for analysis and illustration. Important characters are discussed for identification of particularly difficult genera within the parvorder. Outside of Panamanian studies, this research contributes to the broader field of amphipod research by contributing to information on the phylogeny and clarification on the classification of different amphipod species