Thompsonia (crustacean) explained

Thompsonia is a genus of barnacles which has evolved into an endoparasite of other crustaceans, including crabs and snapping shrimp.^[1] It spreads through the host's body as a network of threads, and produces many egg capsules which emerge through joints in the host's shell.^[2]

Taxonomic history

The first scientific description of the genus was Robby Kossmann's description in 1872 of Thompsonia globosa.^{[3] [4]} Kossmann named the genus after John Vaughan Thompson, the Irish naturalist who had recognised the cirripedian affinities of the Rhizocephala.^[3] The type specimens had been collected by Georg Semper in the East Indies, on the legs of the crab Lybia tessellata.^[3] Eleven species are now recognised:^[5]

• Thompsonia affinis Krüger, 1912
• Thompsonia chuni Häfele, 1911
• Thompsonia cubensis Reinhard & Stewart, 1956
• Thompsonia edwardsi Coutière, 1902
• Thompsonia globosa Kossmann, 1872
• Thompsonia haddoni Coutière, 1902
• Thompsonia japonica Häfele, 1911
• Thompsonia littoralis Lützen & Jespersen, 1990
• Thompsonia pilodiae Lützen & Jespersen, 1990
• Thompsonia reinhardi Lützen, 1992
• Thompsonia sinensis Keppen, 1877

Further reading

• Felix Häfele . 1911 . Notizen über phylogenetisch interessanten Rhizocephalen . . 38 . 7/8 . 180–185 .
• R. Kossmann . 1872 . Beiträge zur Anatomie der schmarotzenden Rankenfüssler . German . Contributions to the anatomy of parasitic Cirripedia . . 3 . 4 . 296–335, pls. 16–18.

Notes and References

1. J. T. Høeg . A. J. Bruce . amp . 1988 . Thompsonia luetzeni, new species (Cirripedia: Rhizocephala), a solitary parasite from the alpheid shrimp Alpheus parvirostris . . 42 . 2 . 246–252 .
2. Book: Donald Thomas Anderson . 1994 . Barnacles: Structure, Function, Development and Evolution . . 978-0-412-44420-3 . Modes of life: phylogeny . 287–330 . https://books.google.com/books?id=2MDH9IRDkdkC&pg=PA318.
3. F. A. Potts . 1915 . On the Rhizocephalan genus Thompsonia and its relation to the evolution of the group . Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication . 212 . 1–32 . 10.5962/bhl.part.9202 . 1915rgtr.book.....P . Frank Armitage Potts . free .
4. Jens T. Høeg . Jørgen Lützen . amp . 1993 . Comparative morphology and phylogeny of the family Thompsoniidae (Cirripedia, Rhizocephala, Akentrogonida), with descriptions of three new genera and seven new species . . 22 . 4 . 363–386 . 10.1111/j.1463-6409.1993.tb00365.x. 86681284 .
5. Christopher Boyko . 2012 . Thompsonia Häfele, 1911 . Isopod . 293298 . October 25, 2012.