Class REMIPEDIA Yager, 1981

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Class REMIPEDIA Yager, 1981

Remipedes

Compiler and date details

27 February 2012 - Gary C. B. Poore, Museum Victoria

Remipedia Yager, J. 1981. Remipedia, a New Class of Crustacea from a Marine Cave in the Bahamas. Journal of Crustacean Biology 1: 328-333 [328].

Introduction

Remipedes are a recently discovered group of crustaceans, the first extant species recognised in 1981. All occur in subtropical marine anchialine environments, water in caves along limestone coasts or karst environments influenced by marine and freshwater intrusion. They are generally in the deepest marine parts of the caves. The Remipedia exhibit a disjunct distribution, with a most taxa in the greater Caribbean region, one species on Lanzarote and another in Western Australia. This disjunct pattern is believed to reflect a Tethyan origin.

The class is divided into two orders Enantiopoda, represented by two fossil species, and Nectiopoda, all known extant remipedes. The systematic of the class were reviewed in detail by Schram et al. (1986) from whose work diagnoses were taken. Koeneman et al. (2007) undertook a phylogenetic analysis of species that strongly supported monophyly of one family, Godzilliidae, and justified another, Micropacteridae. They concluded that the Speleonectidae may be paraphyletic. Hoenemann et al. (2013) also undertook a phylogenetic analysis and revision of the Remipdia (Nectiopoda), erecting three new families and describing three new genera. Species number twenty-seven and more undescribed species are known.

Ecology, taxonomy and phylogenetic position within Crustacea were reviewed by Nieber et al. (2011).

Diagnosis

Crustaceans without trunk tagmosis: lacking carapace but possessing well-developed subquadrangular cephalic shield: labrum well developed. forming large atrium oris behind mouth; (?) mandibles lacking palps: raptorial posterior mouthparts: biramous paddle-like trunk limbs; rami of trunk limbs with three or more segments.