The Entoniscidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of marine

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s in the suborder

Cymothoida Cymothoida is the name of a suborder of isopod crustaceans with a mostly carnivorous or parasitic lifestyle. It contains more than 2,700 described species in four superfamilies. Members of the suborder are characterised by their specialised mout ...

. Members of this family are

parasites Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

of brachyuran and

anomura Anomura (sometimes Anomala) is a group of Decapoda, decapod crustaceans, including hermit crabs and others. Although the names of many anomurans include the word ''crab'', all true crabs are in the sister group to the Anomura, the Brachyura (the ...

n crabs, living in their hosts'

haemocoel The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

. A small

chitin Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...

ised hole develops through the host's exoskeleton through which the isopod can communicate with the environment. The female isopod bears little resemblance to any free-living isopod, but the morphology of the larvae show their

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

affiliations.

Genera

*'' Achelion'' Hartnoll, 1966 *'' Cancrion'' Giard & Bonnier, 1886 *'' Diogenion'' Codreanu, Codreanu & Pike, 1960 *'' Entione'' Kossmann, 1881 *'' Entionella'' Miyashita, 1941 *'' Entoniscoides'' Miyashita, 1940 *'' Entoniscus'' Müller, 1862 *'' Grapsion'' Giard & Bonnier, 1886 *'' Micippion'' Shiino, 1942 *'' Paguritherium'' Reinhard, 1945 *'' Pinnotherion'' Giard & Bonnier, 1889 *'' Portunion'' Giard & Bonnier, 1886 *'' Priapion'' Giard & Bonnier, 1888 *'' Synalpheion'' Coutière, 1908 *'' Tiarinion'' Shiino, 1942 *'' Xanthion'' Shiino, 1942

References

Cymothoida Crustacean families {{Isopod-stub