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 1. 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 2.
The developing embryos are carried by the adult under its carapace until hatching 3.
Classification
Thirty-four species are currently recognised, in four families:
- Thermosbaenidae Monod, 1927
- Thermosbaena mirabilis Monod, 1924
Tunisia
- Monodellidae Taramelli, 1924
- Monodella stygicola Ruffo, 1949 southern
Italy
- Tethysbaena aiakos Wagner, 1994
Greece
- Tethysbaena argentarii (Stella, 1951)
Italy
- Tethysbaena atlantomaroccana (Boutin & Cals, 1985)
Morocco
- Tethysbaena calsi Wagner, 1994
British Virgin Islands
- Tethysbaena colubrae Wagner, 1994
Puerto Rico
- Tethysbaena coqui Wagner, 1994
Puerto Rico
- Tethysbaena gaweini Wagner, 1994
Cuba
- Tethysbaena haitiensis Wagner, 1994
Cuba
- Tethysbaena halophila (S.L. Karaman, 1953)
Croatia
- Tethysbaena juglandis Wagner, 1994
Haiti
- Tethysbaena juriaani Wagner, 1994
Cuba
- Tethysbaena lazarei Wagner, 1994
Cuba
- Tethysbaena relicta (Por, 1962)
Israel
- Tethysbaena sanctaecrucis (Stock, 1976)
British Virgin Islands
- Tethysbaena scabra (Pretus, 1991)
Spain (Balearic Islands)
- Tethysbaena scitula Wagner, 1994
British Virgin Islands
- Tethysbaena siracusae Wagner, 1994
Italy (Sicily)
- Tethysbaena stocki Wagner, 1994
British Virgin Islands
- Tethysbaena somala (Chelazzi & Messana, 1982)
Somalia
- Tethysbaena tarsiensis Wagner, 1994
Spain
- Tethysbaena texana (Maguire, 1965)
United States (Texas)
- Tethysbaena tinima Wagner, 1994
Cuba
- Tethysbaena vinabayesi Wagner, 1994
Cuba
- Tulumellidae Wagner, 1994
- Tulumella bahamensis Yager, 1988
Bahamas
- Tulumella grandis Yager, 1988
Bahamas
- Tulumella unidens Bowman & Iliffe, 1988
Mexico
- Halosbaenidae Monod & Cals, 1988
References
- ^ Joel W. Martin and George E. Davis (2001). An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. http://www.nhm.org/research/publications/CrustaceaClassification.pdf.
- ^ GCB Poore & WF Humphreys (1992). "First record of Thermosbaenacea (Crustacea) from the Southern Hemisphere: a new species from a cave in tropical Western Australia". Invertebrate Taxonomy 6 (3): 719–725. doi:10.1071/IT9920719. http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/120/paper/IT9920719.htm.
- ^ Lowry, J K (1999 onwards). "Crustacea, the Higher Taxa: Description, Identification, and Information Retrieval".
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