Munidopsidae Explained

Munidopsidae is a family of crustaceans belonging to the order Decapoda.^[1] The Munidopsids are the deepest-dwelling family of superfamily Galatheoidea, which comprises families Galatheidae, Munididae, Munidopsidae, and Porcellanidae.^[2]

Munidopsids are one of the most common types of decapod found in abyssal zones,^[3] and have been found occupying active hydrothermal vents^[4] and cold seeps.^[5] Munidopsids reside from slope to abyssal floor, save for the species M. polymorpha, which can be found in submarine caves as shallow as 2 meters below sea level.^[6]

As of 2008, 224 species of Munidopsids have been catalogued: 71 in the Atlantic, 132 in the Pacific, and 50 in the Indian Ocean.

Genera

Genera:

• Ambulocapsa
• Ankylokypha
• Aulavescus
• Munidopsis

Notes and References

1. Web site: Munidopsidae . www.gbif.org . 30 June 2021 . en.
2. Ahyong . Shane T. . Baba . Keiji . Macpherson . Enrique . Poore . Gary C. B. . 2010-11-15 . A new classification of the Galatheoidea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) . Zootaxa . en . 2676 . 1 . 57–68 . 10.11646/zootaxa.2676.1.4 . 1175-5334. 10261/42217 . free .
3. Rodríguez-Flores . Paula C. . Seid . Charlotte A. . Rouse . Greg W. . Giribet . Gonzalo . 2023-01-11 . Cosmopolitan abyssal lineages? A systematic study of East Pacific deep-sea squat lobsters (Decapoda: Galatheoidea: Munidopsidae) . Invertebrate Systematics . en . 37 . 1 . 14–60 . 10.1071/IS22030 . 1447-2600.
4. Nakamura . Masako . Chen . Chong . Mitarai . Satoshi . 2015-06-01 . Insights into life-history traits of Munidopsis spp. (Anomura: Munidopsidae) from hydrothermal vent fields in the Okinawa Trough, in comparison with the existing data . Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers . 100 . 48–53 . 10.1016/j.dsr.2015.02.007 . 2015DSRI..100...48N . 0967-0637.
5. Rodríguez-Flores . Paula C. . Ambler . Julie W. . Nizinski . Martha S. . 2024-09-10 . Integrative taxonomy reveals a new species of deep-sea squat lobster (Galatheoidea, Munidopsidae) from cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico . Zoosystematics and Evolution . en . 100 . 4 . 1243–1257 . 10.3897/zse.100.127169 . free . 1860-0743.
6. Baba . Keiji . Macpherson . Enrique . Poore . Gary C. B. . Ahyong . Shane T. . Bermudez . Adriana . Cabezas . Patricia . Lin . Chia-Wei . Nizinski . Martha . Rodrigues . Celso . Schnabel . Kareen E. . 2008-10-15 . Catalogue of squat lobsters of the world (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura-families Chirostylidae, Galatheidae and Kiwaidae) . Zootaxa . en . 1905 . 1 . 1–220 . 10.11646/zootaxa.1905.1.1 . 1175-5334.