''Anuropus'' is a genus of

isopod Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

s in the suborder

Cymothoida Cymothoida is a suborder of Isopoda, isopod crustaceans with a mostly Carnivore, carnivorous or Parasite, parasitic lifestyle. It contains more than 2,700 described species in four Taxonomic rank#Ranks in zoology, superfamilies. Members of the su ...

. , it is the only genus in the family Anuropidae.

Taxonomic history

The genus ''Anuropus'' was first

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by the English zoologist

Frank Evers Beddard Frank Evers Beddard FRS FRSE (19 June 1858 – 14 July 1925) was an English zoologist. He became a leading authority on annelids, including earthworms. He won the Linnean Medal in 1916 for his book on oligochaetes. Life Beddard was born in ...

in 1886. His new genus coincided with his

description Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. It is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...

of the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, '' A. branchiatus''. Beddard placed ''Anuropus'' in the family Cymothoidae, but in 1893,

Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing The Reverend Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing (6 February 1835, London – 8 July 1926, Royal Tunbridge Wells) was a British zoology, zoologist, who described himself as "a serf to natural history, principally employed about crustacean, Crustacea". ...

wrote it "may have greater claims to be the type of a distinct family, Anuropidæ". In 1903,

Hans Jacob Hansen Hans Jacob Hansen (10 August 1855 – 26 June 1936) was a Denmark, Danish zoologist, known for his contributions to carcinology (the study of crustacea). He was born in Bellinge, Denmark, Bellinge and died in Gentofte. He participated on the first ...

thought ''Anuropus'' might possibly belong to the subfamily Cirolaninae or perhaps a new subfamily Anuropinae.

Species

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

recognizes the following ten species in this genus: * '' A. aeronautus'' * '' A. antarcticus'' * '' A. australis'' * '' A. bathypelagicus'' * '' A. branchiatus'' * '' A. kussakini'' * '' A. novaezealandiae'' * '' A. pacificus'' * '' A. panteni'' * '' A. sanguineus''

References

Isopod genera {{isopod-stub