The majority of Paramysis species are brackish- or freshwater endemics of the Ponto-Caspian Basin; some of them naturally spread more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) up large rivers, including the Volga, Don, Dnieper and Danube. A number of Ponto-Caspian species have been introduced outside the native range. Marine species from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea have probably descended from ancient Ponto-Caspian populations.[1]
Diversity
There are 24 species[2][3][4] classified into 7 subgenera.[3][5][6][7] Body length ranges from 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.6 in). The largest species, like P. eurylepis, P. inflata, are found only in the Caspian Sea. Generic characters: subrostral plate; large eyes on short stalk; antennal scale with smooth outer margin, ended by strong spine, and distal segment rudimentary with five setae; four segments of pereiopod 1–4 carpopropodus; five segments in pleopod 4 of male.[3] Consumed by fishes; particularly important for juvenile sturgeons and zander.[5]
Two extinct species, previously included into this genus,[8][9] have been recently moved into extinct genus Sarmysis.[10]
^R. Labat (1953). "Paramysis nouveli n. sp. et Paramysis bacescoi n. sp. deux espéces de Mysidacés confondues, jusqu'à présent, avec Paramysis helleri (G. O. Sars, 1877)". Bulletin of the Institute of Oceanography, Monaco. 1034 (5): 1–24.
^ abcM. E. Daneliya (2004). "K sistematike mizid roda Paramysis (Crustacea, Mysidacea) iz basseina Ponto-Kaspiya". Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. 83: 408–416.
^M. Băcescu (1940). "Les Mysidacés des eaux roumaines (étude taxonomique, morphologique, bio-géographique et biologique)". Extrait des Annales Scientifiques de l'Université de Jassy. 26 (2): 453–804.
^K.J. Wittmann, A.P. Ariani, M. Daneliya (2016). "The Mysidae (Crustacea: Peracarida: Mysida) in fresh and oligohaline waters of the Mediterranean. Taxonomy, biogeography, and bioinvasion". Zootaxa. 4142 (1): 1–70. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4142.1.1. PMID27470833.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^G. Voicu (1974). "Identification des Myside's fossiles dans les depots du Miocène supérieur de la Paratéthys Centrale et Orientale et leur importance paléontologique, stratigraphique et paléogéographique". Geol. Carpath. 25: 23l–239.
^I. Petrescu; K. Wittmann (2009). "Catalogue of the Mysida type collection (Crustacea: Peracarida) from the "Grigore Antipa" National Museum of Natural History (Bucuresti)". Travaux du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle "Grigore Antipa". 52: 53–72.