Colossendeidae
Temporal range: Jurassic–present
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Pycnogonida
Order: Pantopoda
Family: Colossendeidae
Jarzynsky, 1870
Genera

Colossendeis
Decolopoda
Dodecolopoda
Hedgpethia
Pentacolossendeis
Rhopalorhynchus

Diversity
6 genera

Colossendeidae is a family of sea spider (class Pycnogonida). Like most sea spiders, species in this family have four pairs of legs, except for three species (Decolopoda australis, D. qasimi, and Pentacolossendeis reticulata) with five leg pairs,[1][2] including the first polymerous (i.e., extra-legged) sea spider discovered (D. australis), and one giant species (Dodecolopoda mawsoni, with legs that can span 20 inches) that was the first sea spider discovered with six leg pairs.[3][4]

Taxonomy

References

  1. ^ Jayasree, V.; Sreepada, R. A.; Parulekar, A. H. (1993). "An unusual giant pycnogonid (Pycnogonida-Colossendeidae) Decolopoda qasimi sp. nov. from Antarctic waters". Current Science. 65 (2): 179–181 – via NIO Digital Repository Service.
  2. ^ Hedgpeth, Joel W. (1947). "The Pycnogonida of the Western North Atlantic and the Caribbean". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 97 (3216): 157–342 [275]. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.97-3216.157 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ^ Calman, William Thomas; Gordon, Isabella (1933-06-01). "A dodecapodous pycnogonid". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character. 113 (781): 107–115. doi:10.1098/rspb.1933.0034.
  4. ^ Hedgpeth, Joel W. (1947). "On the evolutionary significance of the Pycnogonida". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 106 (18): 1–53 – via Smithsonian Research Online.

Sources

Categories