Epicaridea

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Epicaridea
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Cymothoida
Infraorder: Epicaridea
Latreille, 1831
Superfamilies

Epicaridea is a former suborder of isopods, now treated as an infraorder in suborder Cymothoida. [1] [2] They are ectoparasites that inhabit other crustaceans, namely ostracods, copepods, barnacles and malacostracans. Epicarideans are found globally. Epicaridea are generally less well researched than other isopods. [3]

Contents

There is a high degree of sexual dimorphism within epicarideans. The female is commonly very asymmetrical, often losing segmentation. Two pairs of rudimentary antennae are carried on the head. Mouthparts show little development, with only mandibles and maxillipeds present, sometimes with a second pair of rudimentary maxillae. Males are of smaller size than females and of different appearance. Development is through regressive metamorphosis, undergoing two or three larval stages. [4]

The oldest trace fossils of epicarideans, comprising preserved damage to gills of fossilised crustaceans, goes back to the Late Jurassic, and a lost specimen from the Toarcian of Western New Guinea suggests that it may go back further to the Early Jurassic. Fossil epicaridean larvae are known from the Vendée amber of France and the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to the early Late Cretaceous, [5] [6] and also from Miocene aged Chiapas amber. [7]

Classification

Eleven families are currently recognised within the suborder Epicaridea, divided into two superfamilies. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decapoda</span> Order of crustaceans

The Decapoda or decapods are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 extant species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp and Anomura including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossils of the group date to the Devonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isopoda</span> Order of arthropods

Isopoda is an order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called Isopods and include both terrestrial and aquatic species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that are used in respiration. Females brood their young in a pouch under their thorax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanaidacea</span> Order of crustaceans

The crustacean order Tanaidacea make up a minor group within the class Malacostraca. There are about 940 species in this order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gnathiidae</span> Family of crustaceans

The Gnathiidae are a family of isopod crustaceans. They occur in a wide range of depths, from the littoral zone to the deep sea. The adults are associated with sponges and may not feed. The juvenile form is known as a 'praniza', and it is a temporary parasite of marine fish. These forms are not larvae; Gnathiidae instead become parasitic during the manca stage. Mancae of the Gnathiidae closely resemble the adult form, however they lack the final pair of pereiopods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevrorthidae</span> Family of insects

The Nevrorthidae are a small family of lacewings in the order Neuroptera. There are 19 extant species in four genera, with a geographically disjunct distribution: Nevrorthus, comprising 5 species with scattered distributions around the Mediterranean; Austroneurorthus, with two species known from southeastern Australia; Nipponeurorthus, comprising 11 species known from China and Japan; and Sinoneurorthus, known from a single species described from Yunnan Province, China. They are traditionally placed in the Osmyloidea, alongside Osmylidae and the spongillaflies (Sisyridae), but some research has considered them to be the sister group to the rest of Neuroptera. The larvae have unique straight jaws that are curved at the tips, and live as unspecialised predators in the sandy bottom sediments of clear, fast flowing mountain rivers and streams. They pupate underwater on the underside of stones. The adults are likely predators or feed on honeydew and other sugar-rich fluids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cymothoida</span> Suborder of crustaceans

Cymothoida is the name of a suborder of isopod crustaceans with a mostly carnivorous or parasitic lifestyle. It contains more than 2,700 described species in four superfamilies. Members of the suborder are characterised by their specialised mouthparts which include a mandible with a tooth-like process which is adapted for cutting or slicing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sphaeromatidea</span> Suborder of crustaceans

Sphaeromatidea is a suborder of isopod crustaceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crustacean larva</span> Crustacean larval and immature stages between hatching and adult form

Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. The larvae of crustaceans often bear little resemblance to the adult, and there are still cases where it is not known what larvae will grow into what adults. This is especially true of crustaceans which live as benthic adults, more-so than where the larvae are planktonic, and thereby easily caught.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bopyridae</span> Family of crustaceans

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Cancricepon is a genus of isopod crustaceans in the family Bopyridae including species formerly included in the deprecated Merocepon Richardson, 1910.

The Cabiropidae are a family of isopod crustaceans in the suborder Cymothoida. The original description was made by Giard and Bonnier in 1887. Members of the family are hyperparasites of other parasitic isopods in the order and some are parasites on other free-living isopods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptoniscidae</span> Family of crustaceans

The Cryptoniscidae are a family of isopod crustaceans in the suborder Cymothoida. The original description was made by Kossmann in 1880. "Liriopsidae" is a junior synonym. Members of this family are hyperparasites of rhizocephalid barnacles which are themselves parasites of decapod crustaceans. The morphology of the adult females gives little clue as to their true identity, but the free-living larvae show their true taxonomic affiliations.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dajidae</span> Family of crustaceans

The Dajidae are a family of marine isopod crustaceans in the suborder Cymothoida. The original description was made by Giard and Bonnier in 1887. Members of this family are ectoparasites of krill. They resemble a fleshy growth on the krill's back, and make the host look as if it is wearing a rucksack. These genera are included in the family Dajidae:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entoniscidae</span> Family of crustaceans

The Entoniscidae are a family of marine isopod crustaceans in the suborder Cymothoida. Members of this family are parasites of brachyuran and anomuran crabs, living in their hosts' haemocoel. A small chitinised hole develops through the host's exoskeleton through which the isopod can communicate with the environment. The female isopod bears little resemblance to any free-living isopod, but the morphology of the larvae show their taxonomic affiliations.

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References

  1. WoRMS. "Epicaridea". World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  2. Angelika Brandt & Gary C. B. Poore (2003). "Higher classification of the flabelliferan and related Isopoda based on a reappraisal of relationships". Invertebrate Systematics . 17 (6): 893–923. doi:10.1071/IS02032.
  3. Brian Morton (2003). Perspectives on Marine Environmental Change in Hong Kong and Southern China, 1977-2001. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 1–152. ISBN   962-209-641-7.
  4. Harriet Richardson (1905). A Monograph on the Isopods of North America. Government Printing Office. pp.  1–497.
  5. Schädel, Mario; Hörnig, Marie K.; Hyžný, Matúš; Haug, Joachim T. (2021-06-01). "Mass occurrence of small isopodan crustaceans in 100-million-year-old amber: an extraordinary view on behaviour of extinct organisms". PalZ. 95 (3): 429–445. doi: 10.1007/s12542-021-00564-9 . ISSN   1867-6812.
  6. Schädel, Mario; Perrichot, Vincent; Haug, Joachim T. (2019-11-12). "Exceptionally preserved cryptoniscium larvae - morphological details of rare isopod crustaceans from French Cretaceous Vendean amber". Palaeontologia Electronica. 22 (3): 1–46. doi: 10.26879/977 . ISSN   1094-8074. S2CID   209391266.
  7. Serrano-Sánchez, María de Lourdes; Nagler, Christina; Haug, Carolin; Haug, Joachim T.; Centeno-García, Elena; Vega, Francisco J. (2016-01-21). "The first fossil record of larval stages of parasitic isopods: cryptoniscus larvae preserved in Miocene amber". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 279 (1): 85414. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2016/0543. ISSN   0077-7749.
  8. Joel W. Martin & George E. Davis (2001). An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea (PDF). Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. pp. 1–132. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  9. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Epicaridea".