Pagurapseudidae 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 ...
of
crustacean
Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s in the order
Tanaidacea
The crustacean order Tanaidacea (known as tanaids) make up a minor group within the class (biology), class Malacostraca. There are about 940 species in this order.
Description
Tanaids are small, shrimp-like creatures ranging from in adult size, ...
. Like
hermit crab
Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...
s, they inhabit empty
gastropod shell
The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium ...
s, but can be told apart from hermit crabs by the lack of a
carapace
A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...
, revealing the segmentation of the thorax, and by the greater number of legs: hermit crabs have five pairs of legs, of which the first has large claws, and the last is highly reduced, while in Pagurapseudidae, there is one pair of claws, plus six further walking legs.
The family Pagurapseudidae contains the following subfamilies and genera:
*
Hodometricinae Gutu, 1981
:*''
Hodometrica''
Miller, 1940
:*''
Indoapseudes''
Bacescu, 1976
:*''
Parapagurapseudopsis''
Brum, 1973
:*''
Similipedia''
Gutu, 1989
*
Pagurapseudinae Lang, 1970
:*''
Macrolabrum''
Bacescu, 1976
:*''
Pagurapseudes''
Whitelegge, 1901
:*''
Pagurotanais''
Bouvier, 1918
References
Tanaidacea
Malacostraca families
{{Malacostraca-stub