The Catophragmidae are a family of barnacles in the superfamily Chthamaloidea with eight shell wall plates (a rostrum plate, carinal plates, paired rostrolateral plates, carinolateral plates I and II), surrounded by several whorls of imbricating plates. The basis is membranous.[1]
This family occupies lower to upper midlittoral warm seas of the Pacific Coast of Central America, Caribbean, Bermuda, and Australia/Tasmania.[1] These populations are highly disjunct and can be seen as relictual.
The family contains these genera:[2] All genera are at present monotypic.
The Catophragmidae have historically suffered from a lack of systematic attention. Ross and Newman, 2001[3] published a revision of the family, proposing one new genus and creating two subfamilies: Catophragminae in the northern hemisphere and Catomerinae in the southern hemisphere. The family was discussed as representing very early balanomorph lineages. The known species conserve many plesiomorphic traits. In 2021, a reclassification by Chan et al. resulted in the removal of the subfamilies and one genus.