Tantulocarida Explained

Tantulocarida is a highly specialised group of parasitic crustaceans that consists of about 33 species, treated as a class in superclass Multicrustacea. They are typically ectoparasites that infest copepods, isopods, tanaids, amphipods and ostracods.[1] [2]

Description

Eyes are completely absent.[3]

The tantulus larvae has a head with a ventral oral disc but no appendages, a six-segmented thorax with six pairs of legs, and a limbless abdomen consisting of one to six segments in addition to a telson.[4]

Body length

Members of this subclass are minute – less than 0.3mm in length and have a dramatic reduction in body form compared to other crustaceans, with an unsegmented, sac-like thorax and a much reduced abdomen.[5] One tantulocarid species, Tantulacus dieteri, is the world's smallest arthropod, with a total body length of only .[6]

Life cycle

The tantulocarid life cycle is unique among crustaceans. The tantulus larva transforms directly from a non-feeding (lecithotrophic) and free-swimming organism into a parasite without any instars. When entering the parasitic stage much of the body, such as the muscles, degenerates, even if the body itself becomes bigger. As a parasite it is permanently attached to its host, and after piercing its host's cuticle with an unpaired stylet, a rootlet system used to absorb nutrients enters through the hole and grow into the host’s tissue. The adult form develops inside the larva, and can become either a sac-like parthenogenetic female, or a fully developed free-living, non-feeding and sexually-reproducing male or female.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] The eggs inside the parthenogenetic female are eventually released as fully developed tantulus larvae. The finding of what appears to be a benthic non-feeding nauplius larva suggests that eggs produced by sexual females hatch as nauplii instead of tantulus larvae. Both the parthenogenetic and sexual females are semelparous.[12]

Classification

Five families are recognised:Basipodellidae Boxshall & Lincoln, 1983:[13]

Doryphallophoridae Huys, 1991:[14]

Microdajidae Boxshall & Lincoln, 1987:[15]

Cumoniscidae Nierstrasz & Brender à Brandis, 1923 (formerly family Deoterthridae:

Onceroxenidae Huys, 1991:[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Tantulocarida. www.marinespecies.org. 2019-06-28.
  2. Tantulocarida, a new class of Crustacea ectoparasitic on other crustaceans . Geoffrey A. Boxshall & Roger J. Lincoln . . 3 . 1 . February 1983 . 1–16 . 1547849 . 10.2307/1547849.
  3. 122207 . 2002 . Oakley . T. H. . Cunningham . C. W. . Molecular phylogenetic evidence for the independent evolutionary origin of an arthropod compound eye . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 99 . 3 . 1426–1430 . 10.1073/pnas.032483599 . 11818548 . 2002PNAS...99.1426O . free .
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=x7vtCAAAQBAJ&dq=Tantulocarida+tantulus+larva+appendageless+abdomen+telson&pg=PA188 Multicellular Animals: Volume II: The Phylogenetic System of the Metazoa
  5. Encyclopedia: Tantulocarida . AccessScience Encyclopedia . . 2016-09-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110617082235/http://www.accessscience.com/abstract.aspx?id=677750 . 2011-06-17 . dead .
  6. Tantulocarida (Crustacea) from the Southern Ocean deep sea, and the description of three new species of Tantulacus Huys, Andersen & Kristensen, 1992. Inga Mohrbeck, Pedro Martínez Arbizu & Thomas Glatzel . . 77 . 2 . October 2010 . 131–151 . 10.1007/s11230-010-9260-0. 20852984 . 7325858 .
  7. G. A. Boxshall & R. J. Lincoln . June 11, 1987 . The life cycle of the Tantulocarida (Crustacea) . . 315 . 1173 . 267–303 . 2396610 . 10.1098/rstb.1987.0009. free . 1987RSPTB.315..267B .
  8. Anatomy of the free tantulus larva (Crustacea: Tantulocarida) studied with confocal laser scanning microscopy: An extreme case of miniatuarisation in the Arthropoda . 10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102190 . 2019PrOce.17802190P . Petrunina . Alexandra S. . Kolbasov . Gregory A. . Martinez Arbizu . Pedro . Progress in Oceanography . 2019 . 178 .
  9. https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/108632/3/i0289-0003-9-4-875.pdf Itoitantulus misophricola gen. et sp. nov.: First Record of Tantulocarida (Crustacea: Maxillopoda) in the North Pacific Region
  10. Huys . Rony . Boxshall . Geoffrey A. . Lincoln . Roger J. . 1993 . The Tantulocaridan Life Cycle: the Circle Closed? . Journal of Crustacean Biology . en . 13 . 3 . 432–442 . 10.2307/1548786 . 0278-0372.
  11. https://www.gfbs-home.de/fileadmin/user_upload/ode2mods/ode/ode18/ode18_0459/article.pdf Anatomy of the Tantulocarida: first results obtained using TEM and CLSM. Part I: tantulus larva - GfBS
  12. https://books.google.com/books?id=PPnZAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+sexual+cycle+involves+a+unique+type+of+metamorphosis%22&pg=PA122 Atlas of Crustacean Larvae
  13. Web site: Geoff Boxshall . Basipodellidae . T. Chad Walter & Geoff Boxshall . World Copepoda database . . 2016-09-10 . August 20, 2008.
  14. Web site: Geoff Boxshall . Doryphallophoridae . T. Chad Walter & Geoff Boxshall . World Copepoda database . . 2016-09-10 . August 20, 2008.
  15. Web site: Geoff Boxshall . Microdajidae . T. Chad Walter & Geoff Boxshall . World Copepoda database . . 2016-09-10 . August 20, 2008.
  16. Geoff Boxshall . 2012 . Onceroxenidae . Copepoda . 136595 . 2016-09-10.

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