Family MUNNOPSIDAE Lilljeborg, 1864

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Regional Maps

• Munnopsidae Lilljeborg, W. 1864. Bidrag till kaennedomen om de inom Sverige och Norrige forekommande Crustaceer af Isopodernas underordning och Tanaidernas familj. Uppsala : Uppsala University 32 pp. [6].
• Munnopsididae Lilljeborg, 1864 [corrected spelling but not in prevailing usage].

Introduction

Munnopsidae (or less frequently Munnopsididae) are a diverse group of asellote isopods important in the deep sea (Wilson & Hessler, 1987). Munnopsidae is the largest family of Asellota but many species remain undescribed. Munnopsids live digging below the seafloor surface (e.g., Ilyarachna), epibenthic on the seafloor (e.g., Munnopsurus, Vanhoeffenura), holopelagic in the water column (e.g., Acanthamunnopsis, Paramunnopsis and some species of Munneurycope), or benthopelagic both on the seafloor and in the water column (e.g., Munnopsoides, Paropsurus, Rectisura) (Hessler & Strömberg, 1989; Osborn, 2009; Jamieson et al., 2012). Munnopsids may be benthic scavengers or predators on foraminiferans. This ecological diversity is reflected in high levels of morphological variation. They have in common, unlike other asellotes, paddle-like posterior pereopods specialised for swimming but a small number of genera are not modified in this way. The maximum size of munnopsids varies; many specie are typically a few (3–10 mm) long but giants are known. Munneurycope pellucida Birstein, 1970 reaches 90 mm long Kussakin (2003).

The taxonomy of Munnopsidae was established by Kussakin (2003) in a large work in Russian. His substantial revision and key to subfamilies, genera and species concentrated on the Northern Hemisphere fauna. A hypothetical tree of the Munnopsidae compiled from previous phylogenetic analyses that suggested relationships based on morphological similarity was summarised by Osborn (2009). Munnopsidae are certainly monophyletic on morphological and molecular grounds (Osborn, 2009). Her finding that not all subfamilies are monophyletic and not all genera can be confidently placed corroborated earlier opinions (Kussakin, 2003; Malyutina & Brandt, 2007). Eight subfamilies are recognised of which only two occur in Australia.

Diagnosis

Body oval; pereonites 1–4 (ambulosome) differentiated from pereonites 5–7 and pleon (collectively natasome). Pleon more or less semicircular, without free pleonites. Eyes absent. Maxillipedal palp articles 1–3 wider than distal articles. Pereopods 5, 6, sometimes 7, usually oar-shaped, carpus and propodus expanded, with margins bearing long plumose setae.

General References

Hessler, R.R. & Strömberg, J.-O. 1989. Behaviour of janiroidean isoopds (Asellota), with special reference to deep-sea genera. Sarsia 74: 145-159

Jamieson, A.J., Fujii, T. & Priede, I.G. 2012. Locomotory activity and feeding strategy of the hadal munnopsid isopod Rectisura cf. herculea (Crustacea: Asellota) in the Japan Trench. Journal of Experimental Biology 215: 3010-3017

Kussakin, O.G. 2003. Marine and brackish-water Crustacea (Isopoda) of cold and temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. 3. Suborder Asellota 2. Family Munnopsidae. Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Opredeliteli po Faune SSSR 171: 1-380 [in Russian] [https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=sourcedetails&id=47261]

Malyutina, M.V. & Brandt, A. 2007. Gurjanopsis australis gen. nov., sp. nov., a new epibenthic deep-sea munnopsid (Crustacea, Isopoda, Munnopsidae) from the Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 54: 1806-1819

Osborn, K.J. 2009. Relationships within the Munnopsidae (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota) based on three genes. Zoologica Scripta 38: 617-635

Wilson, G.D.F. & Hessler, R. 1987. Speciation in the deep sea. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18: 185-207

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