Colossendeidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

sea spider Sea spiders are marine arthropods of the class (biology), class Pycnogonida, hence they are also called pycnogonids (; named after ''Pycnogonum'', the type genus; with the suffix '). The class includes the only now-living order (biology), order P ...

s (

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

Pycnogonida). This family includes more than 100

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

distributed among six

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. These sea spiders inhabit the deep sea mostly but are also found in shallower waters, especially in Antarctic and Arctic waters.

Description

Most colossendeids can grow to giant sizes as adults, far larger than any other sea spiders. The largest sea spider, '' Colossendeis colossea'', can reach a leg span of 70 cm, whereas the subfamily Hedgpethiinae includes tiny species with leg span of less than 1 cm. Like most sea spiders, colossendeids usually have four pairs of legs, except for three species, '' Decolopoda australis'', '' D. qasimi'', and '' Pentacolossendeis reticulata'', with five leg pairs, and one species, '' Dodecolopoda mawsoni'', with six leg pairs. Colossendeids typically have no chelifores, except in the extra-legged species which have robust pincers and 2-segmented scapes. The palps and ovigers are present in both males and females, they are elongated with basal processes located very close to each other. The palps have 8 or 9 segments (historically 9 or 10 as the basal process was once thought to be a segment) while the ovigers have 10 segments. Each oviger ends in a strong terminal claw and compound spines arranged in fields or rows on a well formed strigilis (hook-like distal segments). The proboscis is long, usually longer than the body. The body and legs are usually glabrous. The trunk segments are either segmented (Hedgpethiinae) or fused (Colossendeinae). The legs are very long, and the terminal main claws have no auxiliary claws. gonopores represented on some or all legs.

Taxonomy

* Colossendeinae Jarzynsky, 1870 ** '' Colossendeis'' Jarzinsky, 1870 (67 species) *** '' Colossendeis acuta'' Stiboy-Risch, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis adelpha'' Child, 1998 *** '' Colossendeis angusta'' Sars, 1877 *** '' Colossendeis aperta'' Turpaeva, 2005 *** '' Colossendeis arcuata'' A. Milne-Edwards, 1885 *** '' Colossendeis australis'' Hodgson, 1907 *** '' Colossendeis avida'' Pushkin, 1970 *** '' Colossendeis belekurovi'' Pushkin, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis bicincta'' Schimkewitsch, 1893 *** '' Colossendeis brevirostris'' Child, 1995 *** '' Colossendeis bruuni'' Fage, 1956 *** '' Colossendeis clavata'' Meinert, 1899 *** '' Colossendeis colossea'' Wilson, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis concedis'' Child, 1995 *** '' Colossendeis cucurbita'' Cole, 1909 *** '' Colossendeis curtirostris'' Stock, 1963 *** '' Colossendeis dalli'' Child, 1995 *** '' Colossendeis drakei'' Calman, 1915 *** '' Colossendeis elephantis'' Child, 1995 *** '' Colossendeis enigmatica'' Turpaeva, 1974 *** '' Colossendeis ensifer'' Child, 1995 *** '' Colossendeis fijigrypos'' Bamber, 2004 *** '' Colossendeis fragilis'' Pushkin, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis gardineri'' Carpenter, 1907 *** '' Colossendeis geoffroyi'' Mane-Garzon, 1944 *** '' Colossendeis gibbosa'' Mobius, 1902 *** '' Colossendeis glacialis'' Hodgson, 1907 *** '' Colossendeis gracilis'' Hoek, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis grassa'' Pushkin, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis hoeki'' Gordon, 1944 *** '' Colossendeis insolita'' Pushkin, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis japonica'' Hoek, 1898 *** '' Colossendeis korotkevitschi'' Pushkin, 1984 *** '' Colossendeis kurtchatovi'' Turpaeva, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis leninensis'' Pushkin, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis leptorhynchus'' Hoek, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis longirostris'' Gordon, 1938 *** '' Colossendeis losinskii'' Turpaeva, 2002 *** '' Colossendeis macerrima'' Wilson, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis media'' Hoek, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis megalonyx'' Fry & Hedgpeth, 1969 *** '' Colossendeis melancholicus'' Stock, 1975 *** '' Colossendeis mica'' Pushkin, 1970 *** '' Colossendeis microsetosa'' Hilton, 1943 *** '' Colossendeis minor'' Schimkewitsch, 1893 *** '' Colossendeis minuta'' Hoek, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis mycterismos'' Bamber, 2004 *** '' Colossendeis nasuta'' Hedgpeth, 1949 *** '' Colossendeis notialis'' Child 1995 *** '' Colossendeis oculifera'' Stock, 1963 *** '' Colossendeis peloria'' Child, 1994 *** '' Colossendeis perforata'' Turpaeva, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis pipetta'' Stock, 1991 *** '' Colossendeis proboscidea'' (Sabine) *** '' Colossendeis robusta'' Hoek, 1881 *** '' Colossendeis rostrata'' Turpaeva, 1994 *** '' Colossendeis scoresbii'' Gordon, 1932 *** '' Colossendeis scotti'' Calman, 1915 *** '' Colossendeis sinuosa'' Stock, 1997 *** '' Colossendeis spicula'' Child, 1994 *** '' Colossendeis stramenti'' Fry and Hedgpeth, 1969 *** '' Colossendeis subminuta'' Schimkewitsch, 1893 *** '' Colossendeis tenera'' Hilton, 1943 *** '' Colossendeis tenuipedis'' Pushkin, 1993 *** '' Colossendeis tethya'' Turpaeva, 1974 *** '' Colossendeis tortipalpis'' Gordon, 1932 *** '' Colossendeis vityazi'' Turpaeva, 1973 *** '' Colossendeis wilsoni'' Calman, 1915 ** '' Decolopoda'' Eights, 1835 *** '' Decolopoda australis'' Eights, 1835 —

Scotia Sea The Scotia Sea is a sea located at the northern edge of the Southern Ocean at its boundary with the South Atlantic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the Drake Passage and on the north, east, and south by the Scotia Arc, an undersea ridge and is ...

(littoral) *** '' Decolopoda quasimi'' Sree, Sreepada & Parulekar, 1993 ** '' Dodecolopoda'' Calman & Gordon, 1933 *** '' Dodecolopoda mawsoni'' Calman & Gordon, 1933 — Scotia Sea ** '' Pentacolossendeis'' Hedgpeth, 1943 *** '' Pentacolossendeis reticulata'' Hedgpeth, 1943 * Hedgpethiinae Pushkin, 1990 ** '' Hedgpethia'' Turpaeva, 1973 (12 species) ** '' Rhopalorhynchus'' *** '' Rhopalorhynchus cinclus'' Bamber, 2001 — Bodgaya Southern Rim Reef,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

(on a sponge) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus claudus'' Stock, 1975 —

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

(muddy sand, shell debris, sponge bottom) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus clavipes'' Carpenter, 1893 —

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

(between reefs) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus filipes'' Stock, 1991 — between

Loyalty Islands Loyalty Islands Province (, ) is one of the three top-level administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia. It encompasses the Loyalty Islands () archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre. ...

and

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, near Chesterfield Island *** '' Rhopalorhynchus gracillimus'' Carpenter, 1907 —

Maldive Islands The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about from the Asian c ...

(on a black crinoid) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus kroeyeri'' Wood-Mason, 1873 —

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

(on the bottom of filamentous algae) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus lomani'' Stock, 1958 —

Makassar Strait Makassar Strait () is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat P ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

*** '' Rhopalorhynchus mortenseni'' Stock, 1958 — off

Jolo Jolo () is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines and the primary island of the province of Sulu, on which the capital of the same name is situated. It is located in the Sulu Archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao, and has a populatio ...

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

(on sand and corals) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus pedunculatum'' Stock, 1957 —

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

(shore) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus sibogae'' Stock, 1958 —

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

Sea, Indonesia (on mud and sand) *** '' Rhopalorhynchus tenuissimus'' Haswell, 1884 — Port Denison,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

Sources

* PycnoBase
Taxon tree
{{Taxonbar, from=Q147237 Pycnogonids Chelicerate families