Remipedia

Remipedia Temporal range: Lower Pennsylvanian–Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Remipedia J. Yager, 1981
Orders & families
Enantiopoda † Tesnusocarididae † Nectiopoda Godzilliidae Micropacteridae Speleonectidae

Remipedia is a class of blind crustaceans found in coastal aquifers which contain saline groundwater, with populations identified in almost every ocean basin so far explored, including in Australia, the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean. The first described remipede was the fossil Tesnusocaris goldichi (Lower Pennsylvanian), but, since 1979, at least seventeen living species have been identified with global distribution throughout the neo-tropical zone.^[1]

Remipedes are 10–40 millimetres (0.4–1.6 in) long and comprise a head and an elongate trunk of up to forty-two similar body segments.^[2] The swimming appendages are lateral on each segment, and the animals swim on their backs. They are generally slow-moving. They have fangs connected to secretory glands; it is still unknown whether these glands secrete digestive juices or poisonous venom, or whether remipedes feed primarily on detritus or on living organisms. They have a generally primitive body plan in crustacean terms, and have been thought to be a basal, ancestral crustacean group. However, Fanenbruck et al. showed that at least one species, Godzilliognomus frondosus, has a highly organised and well-differentiated brain, with a particularly large olfactory area which is a common feature for species that live in dark environments.^[3] The size and complexity of the brain suggested to Fanenbruck et al. that Remipedia might be the sister taxon to Malacostraca, regarded as the most advanced of the crustaceans. This is also one of the reasons why it is included in the Pancrustacea hypothesis, a hypothethical clade of probably the most advanced Mandibulata. They have also been grouped together with the Cephalocarida in the Xenocarida.

Classification

Twenty extant species are currently recognised, divided among three families.^[4] All are placed in the order Nectiopoda; the second order, Enantiopoda, comprises the single fossil species Tesnusocaris goldichi.

Godzilliidae

• Godzilliognomus Yager, 1989
  • Godzilliognomus frondosus Yager, 1989
  • Godzillognomus schrami Iliffe et al., 2010
• Godzillius Schram et al., 1986
  • Godzillius robustus Schram et al., 1986
• Pleomothra Yager, 1989
  • Pleomothra apletocheles Yager, 1989
  • Pleomothra fragilis Koenemann et al., 2008

Micropacteridae

• Micropacter Koenemann et al., 2007
  • Micropacter yagerae Koenemann et al., 2007

Speleonectidae

• Cryptocorynetes Yager, 1987
  • Cryptocorynetes elmorei Hazerli et al., 2009 ^[5]
  • Cryptocorynetes haptodiscus Yager, 1987
  • Cryptocorynetes longulus Wollermann et al., 2007
• Kaloketos Koenemann et al., 2004
  • Kaloketos pilosus Koenemann et al., 2004
• Lasionectes Yager & Schram, 1986
  • Lasionectes entrichoma Yager & Schram, 1986
  • Lasionectes exleyi Yager & Humphreys, 1996
• Speleonectes Yager, 1981
  • Speleonectes atlantida Koenemann et al., 2009
  • Speleonectes benjamini Yager, 1987
  • Speleonectes emersoni Lorentzen et al., 2007
  • Speleonectes epilimnius Yager & Carpenter, 1999
  • Speleonectes gironensis Yager, 1994
  • Speleonectes kakukii Daenekas et al., 2009
  • Speleonectes lucayensis Yager, 1981
  • Speleonectes minnsi Koenemann, Iliffe & van der Ham, 2003
  • Speleonectes ondinae (Garcia-Valdecasas, 1984)
  • Speleonectes parabenjamini Koenemann, Iliffe & van der Ham, 2003
  • Speleonectes tanumekes Koenemann, Iliffe & van der Ham, 2003
  • Speleonectes tulumensis Yager, 1987

Distribution of extant Remipedia

•  Bahamas – Andros, Sweetings Cay, Grand Bahama, Great Exuma, Great Guana Cay (Exuma Cays), Cat Island, Abaco Islands, San Salvador Island
•  Turks and Caicos Islands – North Caicos, Providenciales
•  Australia – North West Cape (Western Australia)
•  Cuba – Matanzas Province
•  Spain – Lanzarote (Canary Islands)
•  Mexico – Quintana Roo
•  Dominican Republic – Distrito Nacional

References

Crustaceans portal

1. ^ Stefan Koenemann, Frederick R. Schram, Mario Hönemann, & Thomas M. Iliffe (2007). "Phylogenetic analysis of Remipedia (Crustacea)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution 7 (1): 33–51. doi:10.1016/j.ode.2006.07.001. 
2. ^ Cameron McCormick (November 10, 2008). "Remipedia". The Lord Geekington. http://cameronmccormick.blogspot.com/2008/11/remipedia.html. 
3. ^ Martin Fanenbruck, Steffen Harzsch & Johann Wolfgang Wägele (2004). "The brain of the Remipedia (Crustacea) and an alternative hypothesis on their phylogenetic relationships". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101 (11): 3868–3873. doi:10.1073/pnas.0306212101. 
4. ^ Stefan Koenemann. "World Remipedia Database". Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee. http://www.marinespecies.org/remipedia/aphia.php?p=browser. Retrieved December 20, 2009. 
5. ^ Dennis Hazerli, Stefan Koenemann & Thomas M. Iliffe (2010). "Cryptocorynetes elmorei, a new species of Remipedia (Crustacea) from an anchialine cave on Eleuthera, Bahamas". Marine Biodiversity 40 (2): 71–78. doi:10.1007/s12526-009-0033-4.