Mbya-Guarani Amphipod (Hyalella imbya)

This species was described in 2012 based on specimens hat had been collected in 2002 on a wetland in the municipality of Roque Gonzales, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil.

The animals reach sizes of 0,48 to 0,5 cm in length, they have a smooth body surface and lack eyes.

The type locality has severely altered in recent years: the area has drained to a tributary stream, the riparian vegetation has been removed and the area was flooded; during the latest field searches again the same area was completely dried out and of course not a single specimen of the amphipod species could be found.

The Mbya-Guarani Amphipod is now very likely extinct, however, there is a slight chance that the species survives somewhere in the underground. [1]

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References:

[1] Stella Gomes Rodrigues; Alessandra Angélica de Pádua Bueno; Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira: The first hypothelminorheic Crustacea (Amphipoda, Dogielinotidae, Hyalella) from South America. ZooKeys 236: 65-80. 2021

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female

male

Photos from: `Stella Gomes Rodrigues; Alessandra Angélica de Pádua Bueno; Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira: The first hypothelminorheic Crustacea (Amphipoda, Dogielinotidae, Hyalella) from South America. ZooKeys 236: 65-80. 2021`

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edited: 14.11.2021