Sphaeromatidae (marine pillbug family) is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
isopod
Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...
s, often encountered on rocky shores and in shelf waters in temperate zones. The family includes almost 100 genera and 619 known marine species (and about 65 in fresh water). Within these genera, there are groups that share distinctive morphologies; further research may reclassify these genus-groups as separate families.
Description
Many species have a dorsoventrally compressed body shape, often with a vaulted dorsum, and some are strongly flattened (scale-like).
[
Sphaeromatidae are browsers or detritus feeders. Xynosphaera appear to have incisory mandibles;][ ''Xynosphaera colemani'' burrows into the tissue of ]alcyonacea
Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...
n corals. Some genera of Sphaeromatidae associate with sponges, particularly Oxinasphaera.
Genera
The family contains the following genera:Caecosphaeroma
''Caecosphaeroma'' is a troglodytic isopod genus in the family Sphaeromatidae found in caves of NE and SW France. The genus was split off from Monolistra by Adrien Dollfus in 1896; in both genera, the female carries about 10 fertilized eggs i ...
'' Dollfus, 1896
*'' Calcipila'' Harrison & Holdich, 1984
*'' Campecopea'' Leach, 1814
*'' Cassidias'' Richardson, 1906
*'' Cassidina'' H. Milne-Edwards, 1840
*'' Cassidinella'' Whitelegge, 1901
*'' Cassidinidea'' Hansen, 1905
*'' Cassidinopsis'' Hansen, 1905
*''Ceratocephalus
''Bidens'' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae.[''Bidens''.](_blank)
Flo ...
'' Woodward, 1877
*'' Cerceis'' H. Milne-Edwards, 1840
*'' Cercosphaera'' Bruce, 1994
*'' Chitonopsis'' Whitelegge, 1902
*'' Chitonosphaera'' Kussakin & Malyutina, 1993
*'' Cilicaea'' Leach, 1818
*'' Cilicaeopsis'' Hansen, 1905
*'' Cliamenella'' Kussakin & Malyutina, 1987
*†'' Cyclosphaeroma'' Woodward, 1890
*'' Cymodetta'' Bowman & Kuhne, 1974
*'' Cymodoce'' Leach, 1814
*'' Cymodocella'' Pfeffer, 1887
*'' Cymodopsis'' Baker, 1926
*'' Diclidocella'' Bruce, 1995
*'' Discerceis'' Richardson, 1905
*'' Discidina'' Bruce, 1994
*''Dynamene
In Greek mythology, Dynamene (; grc, Δυναμένη "the bringer"Bane, p. 117) was a Nereid or sea-nymph, one of the 50 daughters of the "Old Man of the Sea" Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. Her name, a participle, means "she who can, the capable ...
'' Leach, 1814
*'' Dynamenella'' Hansen, 1905
*'' Dynameniscus'' Richardson, 1905
*'' Dynamenoides'' Hurley & Jansen, 1977
*'' Dynamenopsis'' Baker, 1908
*''Dynoides
''Dynoides'' is a genus of Isopoda, isopod crustaceans in the family Sphaeromatidae, containing the following species:
* ''Dynoides amblysinus'' (Pillai, 1954)
* ''Dynoides artocanalis'' Nunomura, 1997
* ''Dynoides barnardii'' Baker, 1928
* ' ...
'' Barnard, 1914
*†'' Eocopea'' Iverson & Chivers, 1984
*†'' Eosphaeroma'' Woodward, 1879
*'' Eterocerceis'' Messana, 1990
*'' Exocerceis'' Baker, 1926
*'' Exosphaeroides'' Holdich & Harrison, 1983
*'' Exosphaeroma'' Stebbing, 1900
*'' Geocerceis'' Menzies & Glynn, 1968
*'' Gnorimosphaeroma'' Menzies, 1954
*'' Harrieta'' Kensley, 1987
*'' Haswellia'' Miers, 1884
*'' Hemisphaeroma'' Hansen, 1905
*'' Heterodina'' Schotte & Kensley, 2005
*†'' Heterosphaeroma'' Munier-Chalmas, 1872
*'' Holotelson'' Richardson, 1909
*'' Ischyromene'' Racovitza, 1908
*' Miers, 1876
*†'' Isopodites'' von Ammon, 1882
*'' Juletta'' Bruce, 1993
*'' Koremasphaera'' Bruce, 2003
*'' Kranosphaera'' Bruce, 1992
*''Lekanesphaera
''Lekanesphaera'' is a genus of Isopod in the family Sphaeromatidae. It was split off from Sphaeroma by Karl Wilhelm Verhoeff, 1943.: The type species is ''L. monodi'' (formerly ''Sphaeroma monodi'' Arcangeli, 1934). Other well-studied species ...
'' Verhoeff, 1943
*'' Leptosphaeroma'' Hilgendorf, 1885
*'' Makarasphaera'' Bruce, 2005
*'' Margueritta'' Bruce, 1993
*'' Maricoccus'' Poore, 1994
*'' Merozoon'' Sket, 2012
*''Monolistra
''Monolistra'' is a genus of isopod crustaceans in the family Sphaeromatidae. Its members are restricted to countries of the former Yugoslavia and neighbouring Italy. It contains the following subgenera and species, four of which are listed as ...
'' Gerstaecker, 1856
*'' Moruloidea'' Baker, 1908
*'' Naesicopea'' Stebbing, 1893
*'' Neonaesa'' Harrison & Holdich, 1982
*'' Neosphaeroma'' Baker, 1926
*'' Oxinasphaera'' Bruce, 1997
*'' Paracassidina'' Baker, 1911
*'' Paracassidinopsis'' Nobili, 1906
*''Paracerceis
''Paracerceis'' is a genus of Isopoda, isopod crustacean in the family Sphaeromatidae. It contains the following species:
*''Paracerceis caudata'' (Say, 1818)
*''Paracerceis cohenae'' Kensley, 1984
*''Paracerceis cordata'' (Richardson, 1899)
*'' ...
'' Hansen, 1905
*'' Paracilicaea'' Stebbing, 1910
*'' Paradella'' Harrison & Holdich, 1982
*'' Paraimene'' Javed & Ahmed, 1988
*'' Paraleptosphaeroma'' Buss & Iverson, 1981
*'' Parasphaeroma'' Stebbing, 1902
*'' Parisocladus'' Barnard, 1914
*'' Pedinura'' Bruce, 2003
*'' Pistorius'' Harrison & Holdich, 1982
*'' Platycerceis'' Baker, 1926
*'' Platynympha'' Harrison, 1984
*'' Platysphaera'' Holdich & Harrison, 1981
*'' Pooredoce'' Bruce, 2009
*†'' Protosphaeroma'' Bachmayer, 1949
*'' Pseudocerceis'' Harrison & Holdich, 1982
*'' Pseudosphaeroma'' Chilton, 1909
*'' Ptyosphaera'' Holdich & Harrison, 1983
*''Scutuloidea
''Scutuloidea'' is a genus of isopod
Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven ...
'' Chilton, 1883
*'' Sphaeramene'' Barnard, 1914
*'' Sphaeroma'' Latreille, 1802
*'' Sphaeromopsis'' Holdich & Jones, 1973
*'' Stathmos'' Barnard, 1940
*'' Striella'' Glynn, 1968
*'' Syncassidina'' Baker, 1928
*'' Thermosphaeroma'' Cole & Bane, 1978
*'' Tholozodium'' Eleftheriou, Holdich & Harrison, 1980
*†'' Triassphaeroma'' Basso & Tintori, 1995
*'' Waiteolana'' Baker, 1926
*'' Xynosphaera'' Bruce, 1994
*'' Zuzara'' Leach, 1818
See also
*''Sphaeroma terebrans ''Sphaeroma terebrans'' is a mangrove-boring isopod that was first documented in the United States as early as 1897. It is 8–10 millimetres (0.31–0.39 in) long, and is thought to have been introduced by wooden-hulled ships. The isopod is f ...
''
References
External links
*
"Cute As Buttons"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2405015
Crustacean families