My watch list
my.bionity.com  
Login  

Monstrilloida



Monstrilloida
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Maxillopoda
Subclass: Copepoda
Order: Monstrilloida
Sars, 1901 [1]
Family: Monstrillidae
Dana, 1849 [2]
Genera

Monstrilla Dana, 1849
Monstrillopsis G. O. Sars, 1921
Thaumalea Krøyer, 1849

Monstrilloida is an order of copepods with a cosmopolitan distribution in the world's oceans. The order contains a single family, Monstrillidae [1]; the family Thaumatopsyllidae was formerly included in the order, but is now usually placed in the Cyclopoida [3]. The taxonomy of the family is undergoing a period of revision [4], although some necessary changes are apparent; for instance, the genus Strilloma is now considered a taxonomic synonym of Monstrilla, the largest genus [5].

The order is poorly known, biologically and ecologically, although the life cycle is known to differ from that of all other copepods [6]. The larvae are parasites of benthic polychaetes and gastropods, while the adults are planktonic and incapable of feeding, functioning solely to reproduce [7].

The family Monstrillidae is characterised by having a well-developed fourth pair of swimming legs, but a rudimentary or absent fifth pair. Adults have no oral appendages, and the mouth leads only to a short, blind pharynx. Females carry a long pair of spines to which the eggs are attached, while males have a "genital protuberance, which is provided with lappets"; in both sexes, the genitalia are very different to those of all other copepods [8].

References

  1. ^ a b Monstrilloida (TSN 88989). Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. ^ Monstrillidae (TSN 88991). Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  3. ^ J. W. Martin & G. E. Davis (2001). An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea (PDF), Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 132 pp. 
  4. ^ E. Suárez-Morales & J. B. Escamilla (2001). Taxonomic report on some monstrilloids (Copepoda, Monstrilloida) from southeast Mexico with the description of a new species of Monstrilla. Journal of Natural History 35: 1433–1445. doi:10.1080/002229301317067629.
  5. ^ Eduardo Suárez-Morales & Rebeca Gasca (2004). On the invalidity of Strilloma Isaac (Copepoda: Monstrilloida): observations from the type species. Zoological Studies 43 (2): 292-299.
  6. ^ Cristina de Oliveira Dias (1996). Monstrilloida (Copepoda) off the Brazilian coast. Hydrobiologia 324: 253-256. doi:10.1007/BF00016397.
  7. ^ E. Suárez-Morales & R. Palomares-García (1995). A new species of Monstrilla (Copepoda: Monstrilloida) from a coastal system of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico 17 (4): 745-752.
  8. ^ Charles C. Davis (1949). A primary revision of the Monstrilloidea, with descriptions of two new species. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 68 (3): 245-255.
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Monstrilloida". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
Your browser is not current. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 does not support some functions on Chemie.DE