Family SANTIIDAE Kussakin, 1988

Museums

Regional Maps

• Santiidae Kussakin, O.G. 1988. Marine and brackish-water Crustacea (Isopoda) of cold and temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. 3. Suborder Asellota 1. Janiridae, Santiidae, Dendrotionidae, Munnidae, Haplomunnidae, Mesosignidae, Haploniscidae, Mictosomatidae, Ischnomesidae. Opredeliteli po Faune SSSR 152: 1-501 [in Russian] [228] [as Santidae, replacement name for Antiasini Nordenstam, 1933 based on Antias, a junior homonym].

  Type genus:

   Santia Sivertsen & Holthuis, 1980 [replacement name for Antias Richardson, 1906, junior homonym].
• Antiasini Nordenstam, A. 1933. Marine Isopoda of the families Serolidae, Idotheidae, Pseudidotheidae, Arcturidae, Parasellidae and Stenetriidae mainly from the South Atlantic. Further Zoological Results of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1903 3: 1-284 [198] (Antiasini treated as family level name) [junior homonym; name based on Antias Richardson, 1906, junior homonyn].

Introduction

Santiids are small (usually less than 2 mm long) isopods of shallow coral or rubble sediments; some are associated with sponges. All are more or less oval, about twice as long as wide, have eyes on short stalks and have an exposed anus. Halacarsantia, Santia and Spinosantia are recognisable by the numerous robust setae around the margins of the body and or coxae. The family and four of its five genera were diagnosed by (Wolff, 1989).

Just (2005) considered Prethura to belong to a separate, as yet unnamed family, within the Janiroidea. It is retained here in Santiidae but differs from this family in having its anus covered, and from all other Janiroidea in the stylet of the male pleopod 2 being shaped like a corkscrew and the apices of pleopod 1 being twisted to accommodate the stylets.

Diagnosis

Body oval, usually flat; head frontal margin usually convex; pereonites similar, wider than long. Pleon of 1 free pleonite plus pleotelson, or of 1 segment. Anus not covered by pleopodal operculum. Eyes on lateral process. Antennula much shorter than head width; flagellum with at most 3 articles. Antennal scale small, or absent. Maxillipedal palp articles 1–5 narrow, less than half as wide as endite. Pereopod 1 prehensile; pereopods 2–7 ambulatory; pereopod 4 coxa inserting on midlateral margin; pereopodal 2–7 dactyli with 2 claws. Uropod inserting posterolaterally, usually biramous.

General References

Just, J. 2005. Xenosellidae, a new family of Janiroidea (Asellota: Isopoda: Crustacea), for Xenosella coxospinosa gen. nov., sp. nov., from the marine bathyal of eastern Australia. Zootaxa 1085: 21-32 [22]

Wolff, T. 1989. The genera of Santiidae Kussakin, 1988, with the description of a new genus and species (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota). Steenstrupia 15: 177-191

History of changes