PHYLUM ARTHROPODA

Probably contains up to 5 million species, of which about 1 million have been described so far.

The phylum Arthropoda (Greek jointed foot) is one of the largest phyla in the animal kingdom.

Defining characteristics:
1) Epidermis produces segmented, jointed and hardened (sclerotized) chitinous exoskeleton, with intrinsic
musculature between individual joints of appendages,
2) Complete loss of motile cilia in adult and larval stages.

Nearly 85% of all animal species described to date belong to the Arthropoda, thus arthropod body plan
is the best represented in the animal kingdom. Arthropods also dominate the fossil record. Insects,
spiders, scorpions, pseudoscorpions, centipede, crabs, lobsters, brine shrimp, copepods and barnacles
are all arthropods. Just like Annelida, arthropods are also basically metameric. In most modern members,
however, the underlying metameric, serial repetition of like segments is masked by the fusion and
modification of different regions of the body for highly specialised functions. The specialisation of
segments (tagmatisation) is also seen in some polychaete annelids, but it reaches its greatest extent in
the Arthropoda. Two of the major arthropod groups (Insecta and Crustacea) have three distinct tagmata:
head, thorax and abdomen.

Arthropoda are divided into different subphyla, which subdivides again.

SUBPHYLUM 1 TRILOBITOMORPHA (Latin: Three-lobed form)

CLASS Trilobita – the trilobites, all extinct (about 4 000 fossil species described), were marine
bottom dwellers.
Defining characteristics:
1) Two anterior-posterior furrows divide body into three regions (two lateral, one central)

SUBPHYLUM 2 CHELICERATA (Greek: claw) - approximately 75 000 species divided

into three classes.
Defining characteristics:
1) Absence of antennae (only arthropods without antennae)
2) Body divided into two distinct portions (prosoma and opisthosoma), with no distinct head
3) First pair of appendages (chelicerae) on prosoma adapted for feeding
4) Lack mandibles

CLASS 1 Merostomata
Class composed primarily of extinct species. Only four species extant, including so-called
horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. All members of this class are marine, but living
species are found only in waters of eastern North America, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
Despite small species number and limited distribution, humans have profited significantly
from studying their biology (SELF STUDY).
1) Appendages on opisthosoma flattened and modified for gas exchange as “book gills”
Terminal portion of body (telson) drawn out into elongated spike

Order 1 Xiphosura - horseshoe crabs. Limulus

Order 2 Euryperida - water scorpions. Went extinct some 250 million years ago.

CLASS 2 Pygnogonida (=Pantopoda) – sea spiders. All 1 000 species or so are marine. Most are
external parasites or sucking predators.
Defining Characteristics
1) Body not divided into d=distinct regions (tagmata)
2) Unique proboscis at anterior end, wit an opening at its tip
3) Variable numbers of walking legs among species
 Usually four pairs of legs with unusual feature of reduplicating of somites that means that
there are 5 / 6 pairs of legs and these extra legs are called ovigers = egg carrying legs. Mouth
is located on proboscis with which it sucks juice from cnidarians.

CLASS 3 Arachnida – some 100 000 species.

Earliest members were undoubtedly marine, but the 70 000 extant species are primarily
terrestrial. Head and thorax are fused to form prosoma that is covered by a carapace.
Appendages include chelicerae, pedipalps and four pairs of walking legs.
Reproductive organs are usually on abdomen

Order 1 Scorpiones - true scorpions. All species terrestrial and carnivorous. Some 1 500
species found in nine families. In South Africa 150 species in four families;
Scorpionidae (Opistophthalmus), Ischnuridae (Hadogenes), Bothuridae
(Lisposoma) and Buthidae (Fig. 1) (Parabuthus, Uroplectus).
Short cephalothorax, carry legs, two large median eyes as well as 2-5 pairs of
lateral eyes, a pre-abdomen with two segments and a larger post-abdomen with
the tail with five segments which ends in the aculeus (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Scorpion of the family Buthidae, Bloemfontein. Fig. 2. Cheiracanthium (Aranae) from
Kruger National Park (Photos by L. Basson)

Order 2 Araneae – true spiders. Unsegmented cephalothorax and abdomen fused by a thin
pedicel. All are predators, primarily on insects, about 45 000 described species
(with many more yet to be described in about 90 families. Some South African
genera: Sicarius (six eyed crab spider), Latrodectus (button spiders), Loxosceles
(violin spider), Cheiracanthium (sac spider) (Fig. 2).

Order 3 Pseudoscorpiones - false scorpions – more than 3 400 species, resemble true
scorpions, but are smaller and lack long tail and stinger, small, most are 1-7 mm
long.

Order 4 Solifugae – wind scorpions, sun spiders, camel spiders - up to 7 cm long, some
1 100 described species in 12 families. Cephalothorax divides into carapace and
short posterior part with segmented abdomen. Most striking characteristic is the
large chelicerae. First pair of legs reduced; used as tactile organ and the other
three pairs of legs are used for running.

Order 5 Opiliones – harvestmen, “daddy longlegs”. More than 6 500 known species. There
are 28 families. Cephalothorax and abdomen are mostly fused, with external
segmentation on the abdomen. Characteristic is the 4 pairs of very long legs. They
will easily cast off 1/2 of their legs when endangered.

Order 6 Thelyphonida – whip scorpions. Currently over a 100 species in one family. They
superficially resemble true scorpions, even possessing a few features in common
with true scorpions, although lacking any venom. Whip scorpions do not possess
 a sting, but can raise their flagellum in an aggressive pose. When aggressive
posturing fails, they can secrete a variety of irritants from glands at the base of
their tails, including acetic acid and octanoic acids. These vinegar-like substances
give whip scorpions another popular name, vinegaroons.

Order 7 Amblypygi – tail-less whip spiders. Possess no silk or venom. Only three of the four
pairs of walking legs are used for propulsion. First pair of legs are modified into
long antennae-form sensory appendages. Found in tropical and arid regions,
adults range in body of 20-60mm. Approximately 175 described species.

Order 8 Ricinulei – 56 species in this inconspicuous group of tropical and subtropical

eyeless arachnids. Smallest arachnid orders. Inhabit top layers of soil, some found
in caves, most in isolated locations in tropical forests. Size – 3-10 mm and possess
a suite of unique morphological features. One family.

Order 9 Acari – mites and ticks, about 55 000 species described to date, but some estimates
are that there are another million species awaiting discovery. Ticks (few mm to 3
cm) and mites (1 mm and smaller). Economically and medically the most important
group of the Arachnida. Complete fusion of the cephalothorax and the abdomen,
no external segmentation. Mites are free living, sometimes symbiotic. Marine and
freshwater. Important groups Ixodida- ticks; Prostigmata - mytes and Oribatida soil
mites.

Order 10 Palpigrada (microwhipscorpions) – small (1-3mm), elongate, delicate, pale

coloured predators that mostly inhabit soil layers in moist areas such as forest
floors and caves. Bodies divided into two areas, the cephalothorax and
opisthosoma. Appendages long and thin with a flagellum at posterior end of the
opisthosoma that is covered in tactile sensilla. Fewer than 100 species described.

Order 11 Schizomida - the schizomids. Very little known. Roughly 300 species described,
ranging in size from 3-13 mm.

SUBPHYLUM 3 MANDIBULATA (mandibul Latin: a jaw)

Defining characteristics:
1) Appendages on third head segment are modified as mandibles, for chewing or grinding
food
2) Retinula of compound eyes contains eight cells

Mandibulata includes three major groups (Myriapoda, Insects and Crustacea)

SUPERCLASS 1 Myriapoda – over 13 000 species have been described, distributed among four
orders.

Order 1 Chilopoda – centipedes. All approximately 3 000 species are predators. First pair
of trunk appendages modified into a pair of poison fangs, used to paralyze prey
before consumption.

Order 2 Diplopoda – millipedes (Fig. 3). Nearly 10 000 species described to date. Each
segment typically bears a pair of poison glands that secrete a volatile and irritating,
or even deadly, liquid. Most species are scavengers, a few are carnivorous and a
few others are vegetarians.
 Fig. 3. Member of the Diplopoda, Mpumalanga (Photo of L. Basson).
Order 3 Pauropoda – extremely small (less than 1.5 mm long) terrestrial arthropods living
in leaf litter and soil in forests, each with nine pairs of legs, fewer than 500 species
described.

Order 4 Symphyla – small (1-8 mm long) terrestrial arthropods live in damp habitats, most
of the 160 species are vegetarians, and at least one species is an agricultural pest.

SUPERCLASS 2 Hexapoda (= Hexa •poda Greek: six-footed)

CLASS 1 Entognatha – primarily wingless hexapods whose mouthpart appendages are recessed
within a special pouch on the head.

Order 1 Collembola – springtails, small group of hexapods, no more than several millimetres
long, possessing characteristic abdominal jumping organ, only six abdominal segments
(unlike all other hexapods), some 4 000 species.

Order 2 Protura – group of small (less than 2 mm), wingless, eyeless creatures living in leaf
litter and decomposing vegetation, some 250 species.

Order 3 Diplura - small, less than 4 mm, white, wingless and eyeless herbivores and
predators lacking Malpighian tubules, 650 species.

CLASS 2 Insecta (=Ectognatha) – at least 1 million species described to date, probably several
times than number await discovery. Insects occur in every known terrestrial and freshwater habitat;
even in Antarctica, living as ectoparasites on seals and seabirds.
Defining characteristics:
1) Fusion of one pair of head appendages (second maxillae) to form a lower lip (labium)
2) Loss of abdominal appendages

Order 1 Archaeognatha - bristletails, most primitive living insects; fossil discovered in 2004
is nearly 400 million years old. Approximately 400 species, most nocturnal, abdominal
flexing periodically propels animal into air.

Order 2 Zygentoma – silverfish, some 300 species, fast runners, some live exclusively in
nests of ants and termites.

Subclass Pterygota - winged insects. Though in many species wings have been secondarily lost,
all members of this group are descended from winged insects. There are 27 orders.
Order 1 Mantophasmatodea - gladiators or heelwalkers - order was fist erected in 2001,
the first new order in nearly 100 years, to accommodate certain fossilised insects, but
living representatives have now been found in South Africa.

Order 2 Ephemeroptera - mayflies, over 2 000 species from all over the world. Adults are
non-feeding and short-lived: few live longer than a few days, some only for a few hours.
Fertilised eggs are deposited into freshwater, where the larvae (nymphs) develop for
up to several years, passing through as many as 55 distinct stages (instars).
Ephemeropterans are the only insects to have wings before adulthood. Individuals of
most species bear two pairs of wings, these insects cannot fold their wings flat against
the body when at rest (like following order), believed to be a primitive condition.

Order 3 Odonata - damselflies and dragonflies (Fig. 5), about 5 200 species, winged (two
pairs) that cannot be folded along the abdomen when at rest. Gilled nymphs develop
in freshwater, where they are major predators and also key food resources for fish.
Adults eat only other insects.

Order 4 Blattaria – cockroaches (Fig. 4), most of the more than 4 000 species are tropical,
a few species are house pests. Many species lack wings.

Fig. 4. Cockroach, member of the Blattaria, Mpumalanga. Fig. 5. Dragonfly, member of the
Odonata, Gariep Dam (Photos of L. Basson).

Order 5 Mantodea - mantids or praying mantis (Fig. 6), all 2 000 species prey on other
insects. Nymphs resemble small adults and develop without a pronounced
metamorphosis. Adults generally possess two pairs of wings, although females may
lack both pairs.

Order 6 Isoptera – termites (“white ants”), approximately 2 100 species are described,
termites house symbiotic protozoans or bacteria that digest cellulose and release the
nutrients to the insect host. All species are eusocialand individual termites fall into
certain castes that define their social rank and life’s work: workers, males, soldiers and
queens.

Order 7 Grylloblattaria – 17 species of wingless omnivores contained in this order, found

only in cold environments, including glaciers and ice caves.

Order 8 Orthoptera - crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, locusts (Fig. 7), monkey hoppers,
large group of 20 000 species, some members grow to over 11 cm long. Many species
“stridulate”, producing a species-specific song by rubbing specialised portions of their
wings together.
 Fig. 6. Mantid, member of the Mantodea, Mpumalanga. Fig. 7. Grasshopper, member of the
Orthoptera, Mpumalanga (Photos of L. Basson).

Order 9 Phasmida (=Phasmatoptera) – walking sticks, (stick insects), approximately 2 500

species, infamous for mimicking stems and leaves of plants on which they feed almost
perfectly. Most species can alter their body colouration with each moult to better match
the colour pattern of their surroundings.

Order 10 Dermaptera - earwigs, most of the 2 000 species of earwigs are free-living
herbivores or carnivores, but about 20 species are exclusively parasitic or commensal
on bats and rodents. Most species are tropical, and many lack wings.

Order 11 Embiidina – embiids, contains about 2 000 species of silk-spinning insects that
live mostly in narrow galleries lined with silk, in soil, in wood or in leaf litter. Males
usually have wings, but females are always wingless. Embiids primarily eat decaying
plant matter.

Order 12 Plecoptera - stoneflies, about 1 800 species, distributed worldwide, except in

Antarctica. Adult life span typically short, just long enough for mating and egg laying;
most of life cycle is spent in immaturity, usually in freshwater. Stonefly nymphs closely
resemble those of mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera), but have only two tails instead of
three and bear gills on the thorax instead of on the abdomens.

Order 13 Psocoptera – book lice, bark lice. Not parasitic, feed on algae, mould, lichens,
pollen or dead insects. Individuals are small, usually 1-6 mm long. Some 2 600 species.

Order 14 Anoplura - sucking lice; crab lice (transmitted venereally among humans):
Pediculus – human body lice. Some 250 species of blood-sucking ectoparasites, small,
wingless insects that never exceed 4mm in length. All parasitise mammals. Human
head and body lice transmit typhus.

Order 15 Mallophaga - chewing lice, biting lice. All are small, wingless parasites of birds
and mammals. About 2 500 species are known.

Order 16 Thysanoptera - thrips. All 5 300 species are small. Some species are winged;
some are not.

Order 17 Hemiptera - true bugs (Fig. 8). Many of the 50 000 described species in this large
group are major agricultural pests or transmitters of diseases; many other species are
beneficial. Some are ectoparasites of vertebrates. This order also contains the only
open-ocean insects, five species in the genus Halobates.
 Fig. 8. Bug, member of the Hemiptera, Bloemfontein. Fig. 9. Cicada, member of the
Homoptera, Botswana (Photos of L. Basson).

Order 18 Homoptera - cicadas (Fig. 9), aphids, mealy bugs, spittle bugs, jumping plant lice,
leaf hoppers. Large order with some 35 000 species. All species feed on plants and
often require specific plant hosts.

Superorder Holometabola - nine orders, includes most insect families and most insect
species. All exhibit complete, dramatic metamorphosis.

Order 1 Neuroptera - Dobsonflies, lacewings, ant lions, snake flies. About 5 100 species.
Larvae are aquatic and secrete silken cocoons from Malpighian tubules.

Order 2 Coleoptera – beetles (Figs. 10 & 11) (whirligig beetles, ladybugs or ladybirds, click
beetles, Japanese beetles, waterpenny beetles. The largest of all insect orders, over
360 000 species. Most beetles have two pairs of wings, with front pair serving only as
a protective sheath for rear pair, which is used for flying.

Figs. 10 & 11. Beetles, members of the Coleoptera, both from Gariep Dam (Photos of L.
Basson).

Order 3 Strepsiptera - nearly 400 species. Females are wingless, often legless,
endoparasites of other insects, including bees, wasps, thysanurans and cockroaches.
Males are winged and free-living.
Order 4 Mecoptera – scorpion flies, snow fleas. Group contains 500 species. Common
forest insects feed on nectar or eat other insects. Abdomen of males ends in an
upward, pointed curve, resembling a scorpion’s stinger; nevertheless, the flies do not
sting.

Figs. 12-13. Flies, members of the Diptera from Mpumalanga (12), Tasmania (13) and Gariep
Dam (14) (Photos of L. Basson [12 & 14] and Kit Williams [13]).

Order 5 Siphonaptera – fleas, jiggers. Approximately 2 000 species of these wingless,

holometabolous, biting and blood-sucking insects have been described. Adults are
parasitic – usually ectoparasitic – on warm-blooded animals, usually mammals
(especially rodents). Fleas are excellent vehicles for transferring diseases among
hosts. Fleas lack compound eyes.

Order 6 Diptera – true flies (Figs. 12-14). This immense group contains some 125 000 – 150
000 species. Group contains mosquitoes, gnats, black-and green flies, no-see-ums,
botflies, fruit flies, dung flies and house flies. Adult dipterans exhibit a posterior pair of
club-shaped reduced wings (halters, used for balancing during flight) and only one pair
of flying wings.

Order 7 Trichoptera – caddisflies. About 7 000 species have been described. Adults
resemble small moths but feed exclusively on liquids. Some species never get longer
than about 2 mm. Larvae and pupae are generally aquatic, but the developmental
stages of some species are fully terrestrial.

Order 8 Lepidoptera – moths and butterflies (Figs. 15 & 16). Enormous group contains
nearly 160 000 species. Females of some species are wingless, and many species are
strictly nocturnal. Larvae typically feed on plants or plant products, but some prey on
other insects, one species (Hyposmucoma molluscivora) eats terrestrial gastropods!

Order 9 Hymenoptera - ants, bees, wasps. Some 130 000 species described. Many species
form functionally complex societies.
 Fig. 15. Butterfly, and Fig. 16. Moth; both are members of the Lepidoptera, both from Gariep
Dam (Photos of L. Basson).

SUPERCLASS 3 Crustacea - 10 classes of Crustacea

Defining characteristics:
1. Head bears five pairs of appendages, including two pairs of antennae;
2. Development includes a triangular larval form (the nauplius) bearing three pairs of
appendages and a single medial eye (even species that hatch at a later stage of
development pass through this naupliar stage).

Most of the approximately 42 000 crustacean species are divided among six of the ten major classes.

CLASS 1 Cephalocarida – 12 species in this group, thought to be among the most primitive of living
crustaceans. All marine bottom-dwellers, none exceeds 3.7 mm in length.

CLASS 2 Malacostraca – over 25 000 described species among 12 orders.

Defining characteristics:
1. Thorax with eight segments, abdomen with six to seven segments plus a telson;
2. Appendages on the sixth abdominal segment are flattened to form uropods.

Superorder 1 Syncarida – about 150 species mostly freshwater, elongated crustaceans

lacking a carapace. Anaspides – the syncarids. Six families.

Superorder 2 Hoplocarida

Order Stomatopoda – mantis shrimp, 400 species are active, hard-hitting predators living
in crevices and holes or in extensive burrows of their own making in soft substrates,
12 families.

Superorder 3 Pecacarida – over 11 000 species distributed in 11 orders.

Order 1 Thermosbaenacea – small (about 3 mm long) living only in saline hot springs, ay
water temperatures of up to 43ºC, Thermosbaena.

Order 2 Mysidacea – mysid shrimp, “opossum shrimp”; most of 1 000 species are marine
or estuarine, but several dozen species inhabit freshwater habitats, such as lakes,
wells and caves. Mature females with distinctive brood pouch ventrally. Mysis
 Order 3 Cumacea – the cumaceans, exclusively marine; almost 1 000 species in eight
families.

Order 4 Tanaidacea – the tanaids, 550 species all marine in 16 families.

Order 5 Isopoda – isopods, woodlice, pillbugs. Large group of some 10 000 species in
marine, estuarine, freshwater, interstitial and terrestrial habitats. Cymothoa, Gnathia.

Order 6 Amphipoda - amphipods, in freshwater and marine habitats, some of 6 000 species
are common in underground and in caves. Gammarus, Hyperia, Caprella

Superorder 4 Eucarida – about 10 100 species.

Order 1 Euphausiacea – krill, euphausiids, 85 species, Euphausia

Order 2 Decapoda – some 17 600 species, contains shrimp, crabs, hermit crabs and
lobsters, Cancer, Cherax, Pagurus, Penaeus, Pandalus, Pinnotheres

CLASS 3 Branchiopoda – remarkably varied group of small, primarily freshwater, includes water
fleas, brine shrimp and about 800 other aquatic crustacean species. Coxa (basal segment of
appendage) flattened into large paddle; body of most at least partially enclosed in bivalve
carapace, but some brine shrimp and fairy shrimp lack carapace.

Order 1 Anostraca – fairy shrimp (Branchinecta, Eubranchipus), brine shrimp (Artemia).

About 200 species, these animals live in stressful habitats, either temporary
freshwater pools and ponds or under hypersaline conditions. Members lack a
carapace, and as many as 19 of the body segments bear swimming appendages.

Order 2 Cladocera - water fleas. Daphnia, Bosmina, Moina, Podon, about 400 species.
Carapace covers body, but not the head; most of the body enclosed in bivalve
carapace; head bears pair of large biramous second antennae; thoracic region bear
5-6 pairs of appendages; no abdominal appendages; single huge compound eye on
head, eye not stalked.

Order 3 Conchostraca - clam shrimp. Fewer than 200 species are common in freshwater
ponds, and the eggs can withstand considerable dehydration. Bivalve carapace
encloses entire body.

Order 4 Notostraca – tadpole shrimp, nine species in this order generally inhabit temporary
lakes. Eggs can withstand considerable dehydration, Triops. Carapace is a large
dorsal shield that covers the thorax; lacks second antennae.

CLASS 4 Ostracoda - most of the 6 650 species are only a few millimetres long, most species are
marine, estuarine or freshwater, but a few occur in moist terrestrial habitats. Cypris, Pontocypris,
Gigantocypris.
Defining characteristics:
1. Head and body enclosed in a bivalve carapace that lacks concentric growth rings;
2. Trunk of body possesses no more than two pairs of limbs.

CLASS 5 Mystacocarida - eight know species are exclusively marine and very small; most less than
0.5 mm, none larger than 1 mm. all species are interstitial.

CLASS 6 Copepoda – approximately 8 500 species distributed among six orders. Most species are
marine, feeding on phytoplankton. Free-living and symbiotic species. Parasites highly modified
adults, so modified that they can hardly be recognised as arthropods. Extremely important in
aquatic communities. Ex. Calanus plays an important role in fish diets, other copepods are
intermediate hosts, ex. for Bothriopcephalus. Parasitic examples are Lernaea that occur on the
skin of fish, Ergasilus that occurs on the gills of fish. In both cases it is the female that is parasitic,
males always free-living.
Defining characteristics:
 1) Thorax with six segments, abdomen with five segments
2) First segment of thorax fused to head
3) Loss of all abdominal appendages
4) Most species bear single “naupliar” eye, retained in adult.

Order 1 Calanoida – mostly marine, in fact they dominate the marine plankton; they are
extremelyiportant in marine food chains leading to many important fish species.
Copepods occur in all ocean waters, from surface to depths exceeding 5 000 m.
member sof one family Diaptomidae are found exclusively in freshwater. Order
contains over 1 900 species, Calanus. Diaptomus, Metadiaptomus, Lovenula

Order 2 Harpacticoida - small copepods, less than 2.5 mm long, marine, estuarine and
freshwater, Psammis, Euterpina, Tisbe

Order 3 Cyclopoida – found in marine and freshwater habitats, over 3 000 species. Most
are free-living, but some are commensal and others are parasitic.

Order 4 Monstrilloida – all marine, bizarre, often degenerate crustaceans, all are parasitic
as larvae on various invertebrates. Adults are free-living but non-feeding, lacking
mouthpartsor guts. Adults also lack second antennae. Approximately 80 species,
Monstrilla

Order 5 Siphonostomatoida – salmon gill maggot, although nauplius larvae are typical and
free-living, adults are exclusively parasites of marine fishes, commonly affixed to the
gills. Caligus, Salmincola

Order 6 Poecilostomatoida – nauplii are free-living; adults are parasitic on fish (mostly
marine) and marine invertebrates. Often antennae end in claws, for attaching to host,
Bomolochus, Ergasilus, Tucca

CLASS 7 Branchiura – fish lice (fish parasites), all 125 species are ectoparasitic on freshwater and
marine fish, even in the larval stage. Animals typically smaller than 2 cm, one family, No nauplius
larvae in the ontogony, 7 - 9 moulting stages; four genera.
Dipteropeltis - occur only in South America, was already described in 1912. Long lateral
carapace lobes, maxillulae develops into suckers.
Dolops (Fig. 18) – South America, Tasmania and South Africa, different species, only one in
SA. Maxillulae don’t develop into suckers and carapace covers whole thorax.
Argulus (Fig. 19) - worldwide distribution, one introduced species in SA. Carapace covers whole
body, but maxillae develop into suckers.
Chonopeltis (Fig. 17) - endemic to Africa. Carapace covers only first or second pair of legs and
maxillulae develop into suckers

Figs. 17-19. Members of the Branchiura, Fig. 17. Chonopeltis lisikili; Fig. 18. Dolops ranarum;
Fig. 19. Argulus sp. (all photos belong to the Aquatic Ecology Research Group.
 Subclass Pentastomida (Greek: five mouths) – tongue worms, approximately 100 species
distributed among two orders and seven families. Lingulata.
Defining characteristics:
1. All species are parasitic in nasal passages of vertebrate hosts;
2. Body bears only two pairs of appendages, with claws.

Order Cephalobaenida – this order contains one of the few pentastomid species living in a
nonreptilian host; members of the genus Reighardia parasitise only birds, including gulls.

Order Porocephalida – most species parasitise reptiles.

Subclass Tantlocarida – group of 30 species, first recognised in 1983, all ectoparasitic on deep-
water crustaceans. Members resemble copepods, but lack thoracic legs.

Subclass Remipedia - first recognised as a group in 1983. So far 17 species described, restricted
to tropical, underwater marine caves. Long body with abundant lateral appendages resembles that
of a polychaete.

CLASS 8 Thecostraca – all nearly 1 300 species are entirely sedentary as adults, found only in
marine and estuarine waters. Includes three subclasses, the best known of which includes the
barnacles.

Subclass Facetotecta – known for more than a century only as larvae from the plankton, the
larvae were recently gotten to metamorphose, after which they resembled a stage in the
rhizocephalan life cycle (see below). They are probably parasites, but the host remains unknown.
Probably 40 or more species, in one family.

Subclass Ascothoracida - Ulophysema. All 100 species are marine ecto- or endoparasites of
cnidarians or echinoderms. Body is enclosed within a bivalve carapace or sac. These animals
occur over a wide depth range, from shallow water to abyssal depths.

Superorder Acrothoracica - Trypetesa. Most species lack calcareous protective plates,

burrowing instead into calcareous substrates: mollusc shells, coral skeletons or limestone.
Females are fully developed, but males are little more than inconspicuous sacs of sperm
living adjacent to females. A few species are found at depths of 600-1 000 m, but most
are found in shallow waters.

Superorder Rhizocephala – Sacculina, Lernaeodiscus. Of the 230 species, all but 3 or 4 are
exclusively marine; the few misfits occur only in freshwater. Regardless of habitat, all
species are internal parasites of other crustaceans, especially of crabs and other
decapods. A sac containing the female gonad of the parasite protrudes conspicuously
from the host, while the large absorptive portion of the parasite remains inside. Males are
small and inconspicuous, little more than sacs of sperm cells.

Superorder Thoracica - about 1300 species, the true barnacles. Balanus, Chthamalus,
Lepas, Sacculina. Most cirripeds are placed in this order. Species are all marine.
Individuals of most species are enclosed within a complex of calcareous plates. Most
species are suspension feeders, but others are parasitic in sharks, polychaetes or corals,
and a few are pelagic. Some species live attached to the outsides of fish, jellyfish, turtles
or whales, and others are commensal with anthozoans, crustaceans or sponges or in the
mantle cavity of certain bivalves. This order remains the oldest known cirripedes, with a
fossil record extending back over 400 million years.
Fig. 20. Members of the true barnacles, specifically a goose barnacle (Photo of L. Basson).