Pycnogonidae is 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 ...

sea spider Sea spiders are marine arthropods of the order Pantopoda ( ‘all feet’), belonging to the class Pycnogonida, hence they are also called pycnogonids (; named after ''Pycnogonum'', the type genus; with the suffix '). They are cosmopolitan, fou ...

Characteristics

Most sea spiders in the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

Pycnogonida Sea spiders are marine arthropods of the order Pantopoda ( ‘all feet’), belonging to the class Pycnogonida, hence they are also called pycnogonids (; named after ''Pycnogonum'', the type genus; with the suffix '). They are cosmopolitan, fou ...

have

appendage An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body. In arthropods, an appendage refers to any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment, including anten ...

s on the anterior end of the body called chelifores which are used for gathering food and

palps Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...

which bear sensory organs. Members of the family Pycnogonidae have neither of these, instead using their

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

to suck juices from their

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

. On the first segment of the trunk of male family members there are ovigerous legs on which the larvae are carried. The females do not have these appendages. Like most sea spiders, all species in this family have four pairs of legs, except for three species (''Pentapycnon bouvieri'', ''P. charcoti'', and ''P. geayi'') with five pairs.

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species lists the following

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

: *'' Pentapycnon'' Bouvier, 1910 *''

Pycnogonum ''Pycnogonum'' is a genus of sea spiders in the family Pycnogonidae. It is the type genus of the family. Etymology The generic name literally means “dense knees”. ''Pycnogonum'' combines the prefix ' (from ‘dense’ in Greek) with the G ...

'' Bruennich, 1764 *'' Pycnopallene'' Stock, 1950

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3411184 Pycnogonids Chelicerate families