Thermosbaenacea

Taxobox | name = Thermosbaenacea
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Crustacea
classis = Malacostraca
superordo = Peracarida
ordo = Thermosbaenacea
ordo_authority = Monod, 1927
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision = Halosbaenidae
Monodellidae
Thermosbaenidae
Tulumellidae

Thermosbaenacea is a group of crustaceans that live in thermal springs in fresh water, brackish water and anchialine habitats. They have occasionally been treated as a distinct superorder (Pancarida), but are generally considered to belong to the Peracarida [cite book|author = Joel W. Martin and George E. Davis|title = An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea|year = 2001|publisher = Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |url=http://www.nhm.org/research/publications/CrustaceaClassification.pdf] . Due to their troglobitic lifestyle, thermosbaenaceans lack visual pigments and are therefore blind.

The current distribution of some genera tallies well with the Miocene extent of the Tethys Sea, and it is assumed that the extant taxa are derived from ancestors that lived in open marine habitats. Elsewhere, the distribution is consistent with the break-up of Pangaea [cite journal | quotes=no|title=First record of Thermosbaenacea (Crustacea) from the Southern Hemisphere: a new species from a cave in tropical Western Australia|author=GCB Poore & WF Humphreys|journal=Invertebrate Taxonomy |volume=6 |number=3 |pages=719–725 |url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/120/paper/IT9920719.htm|doi=10.1071/IT9920719|year=1992] .

The developing embryos are carried by the adult under its carapace until hatching [cite web |author=Lowry, J K |year=1999 onwards |title=Crustacea, the Higher Taxa: Description, Identification, and Information Retrieval |url=http://crustacea.net/] .

Classification

Thirty-four species are currently recognised, in four families:
*Thermosbaenidae Monod, 1927
**"Thermosbaena mirabilis" Monod, 1924 TUN
*Monodellidae Taramelli, 1924
**"Monodella stygicola" Ruffo, 1949 southern ITA
**"Tethysbaena aiakos" Wagner, 1994 GRE
**"Tethysbaena argentarii" (Stella, 1951) ITA
**"Tethysbaena atlantomaroccana" (Boutin & Cals, 1985) MAR
**"Tethysbaena calsi" Wagner, 1994 VGB
**"Tethysbaena colubrae" Wagner, 1994 PUR
**"Tethysbaena coqui" Wagner, 1994 PUR
**"Tethysbaena gaweini" Wagner, 1994 CUB
**"Tethysbaena haitiensis" Wagner, 1994 CUB
**"Tethysbaena halophila" (S.L. Karaman, 1953) CRO
**"Tethysbaena juglandis" Wagner, 1994 HAI
**"Tethysbaena juriaani" Wagner, 1994 CUB
**"Tethysbaena lazarei" Wagner, 1994 CUB
**"Tethysbaena relicta" (Por, 1962) ISR
**"Tethysbaena sanctaecrucis" (Stock, 1976) VGB
**"Tethysbaena scabra" (Pretus, 1991) ESP (Balearic Islands)
**"Tethysbaena scitula" Wagner, 1994 VGB
**"Tethysbaena siracusae" Wagner, 1994 ITA (Sicily)
**"Tethysbaena stocki" Wagner, 1994 VGB
**"Tethysbaena somala" (Chelazzi & Messana, 1982) SOM
**"Tethysbaena tarsiensis" Wagner, 1994 ESP
**"Tethysbaena texana" (Maguire, 1965) USA (Texas)
**"Tethysbaena tinima" Wagner, 1994 CUB
**"Tethysbaena vinabayesi" Wagner, 1994 CUB
*Tulumellidae Wagner, 1994
**"Tulumella bahamensis" Yager, 1988 BAH
**"Tulumella grandis" Yager, 1988 BAH
**"Tulumella unidens" Bowman & Iliffe, 1988 MEX
*Halosbaenidae Monod & Cals, 1988
**"Limnosbaena finki" Mestrov & Lattinger-Penko, 1969 BIH and northern ITA
**"Halosbaena acanthura" Stock, 1976 VEN ANT (Curaçao)
**"Halosbaena fortunata" Bowman & Iliffe, 1986 ESP (Canary Islands)
**"Halosbaena tulki" Poore & Humphreys, 1992 AUS (Western Australia)
**"Theosbaena cambodjiana" Cals & Boutin, 1985 CAM

References