Remipedia is a class of blind crustaceans, closely related to hexapods, found in coastal aquifers which contain saline groundwater, with populations identified in almost every ocean basin so far explored, including in Australia, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. The first described remipede was the fossil Tesnusocaris goldichi. Since 1979, at least seventeen living species have been identified in subtropical regions around the world.
Polycopidae is a family of marine ostracods. Its members are related to animals in the suborder Halocypridina, but are sufficiently distinct to be placed in the sub-order Cladocopina. There is even some speculation that a separate order may be warranted. The genera in the family differ from the other suborder, Halocypridina, in several features: the central adductor muscle scars are in a triangular or half-rosette pattern, they lack sixth and seventh limbs, and the maxilla has both an exopod and endopod.
Barbouria is a genus of shrimp in the family Barbouriidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Barbouria cubensis.
Bermudamysis speluncola is a species of crustacean in the family Mysidae, endemic to Bermuda, and the only species in the genus Bermudamysis.
Ingolfiella is a genus of amphipod in the family Ingolfiellidae, containing the following species:
Mictocaris halope is the only species of cave crustacean in the monotypic genus Mictocaris. It is placed in its own family, Mictocarididae, and is sometimes considered the only member of the order Mictacea. Mictocaris is endemic to anchialine caves in Bermuda, and grows up to 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long. Its biology is poorly known.
Platyops sterreri is a species of crustacean in the family Mysidae, endemic to Bermuda, the only species in the genus Platyops.
Parhippolyte sterreri is a species of marine decapod crustacean in the family Barbouriidae, formerly placed in the genus Somersiella. It is found in marine caves around the Bahamas, Cuba and Mexico and inland anchialine caves in Bermuda.
Speleoithona is a genus of copepods in the family Speleoithonidae, containing the following species:
Speleophria bivexilla is a species of copepod in the family Speleophriidae. It is endemic to Bermuda.
Speleophria scottodicarloi is a species of crustacean in the family Speleophriidae. It is endemic to Chalk Cave, a collapsed cave in Smith's Parish, Bermuda, and it listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. The pool it inhabits also contains Barbouria cubensis, Somersiella sterreri and Paracyclopia naessi.
Typhlatya is a genus of shrimp in the family Atyidae. These are small, stygobitic shrimp found in the West Mediterranean region, Caribbean region, Ascension Island and the Galápagos, although the individual species often have very small ranges. Species in this genus are found in salt, brackish and fresh waters, mostly in anchialine habitats and none in the open sea.
Mictacea is a monotypic order of crustaceans. It was originally erected for three species of small shrimp-like animals of the deep sea and anchialine caves. They were placed in two families, the Mictocarididae and Hirsutiidae, but Hirsutiidae is now placed in order Bochusacea, leaving Mictacea with a single species, Mictocaris halope.
Godzilliognomus schrami is a species of Remipedia discovered in 2007, representing one of five extant species of the family Godzilliidae. It generally reaches about 7 millimetres (0.28 in) in length and inhabits a single anchialine cave on Eleuthera Island. The specific epithet commemorates Frederick Schram.
Platycopiidae is a family of copepods. Until the description of Nanocopia in 1988, it contained the single genus Platycopia. It now contains four genera, three of which are monotypic; the exception is Platycopia, with 8 species.
Speleophriidae is a family of copepods, comprising seven genera. All are restricted to anchialine caves, with the exception of Archimisophria, which is found in the hyperbenthos of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The genera are:
Macromaxillocaris bahamaensis is a species of stenopodidean shrimp, the only species in the family Macromaxillocarididae. It is a troglobite, known only from an anchialine pool in a cave in the Bahamas. It differs from other stenopodideans by the enlargement of its third maxilliped.
Xibalbanus tulumensis is a venomous, hermaphroditic crustacean found in anchialine caves on the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. This blind remipede liquefies the body contents of other crustaceans with a venom similar to that of rattlesnakes, and which includes digestive enzymes and a paralysing toxin.
Parhippolyte uveae, the sugar cane shrimp, is a species of cave shrimp from the family Barbouriidae from the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. It was described by the English carcinologist Lancelot Alexander Borradaile from specimens collected by Arthur Willey in the south Pacific in 1895–1897 and is the type species of the genus Parhippolyte.
An anchialine system is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean. Depending on its formation, these systems can exist in one of two primary forms: pools or caves. The primary differentiating characteristics between pools and caves is the availability of light; cave systems are generally aphotic while pools are euphotic. The difference in light availability has a large influence on the biology of a given system. Anchialine systems are a feature of coastal aquifers which are density stratified, with water near the surface being fresh or brackish, and saline water intruding from the coast at depth. Depending on the site, it is sometimes possible to access the deeper saline water directly in the anchialine pool, or sometimes it may be accessible by cave diving.
