SUPERFAMILY BALANOIDEA LEACH, 1817

Diagnosis: Wall composed of rostrum, carina and one to two pairs of marginals, or wholly concrescent; parietes solid or tubiferous; radii solid or tubiferous; basis commonly calcareous, solid or permeated by tubes, rarely membranous; when basis calcareous, internal surfaces of compartments commonly with uniform ribs and interdigitations with wall; mandible quadri- or quinquidentate; caudal appendages absent; penis with basidorsal point; first three pairs of cirri are maxillipeds.

C o m m e n t s: T h e s p e c i e s a t p r e s e n t a n a l y s e d molecularly form two distinct clades that are here recognized as the Balanidae and Pyrgomatidae . Relationships of the many species within each of these are much less clear and clearly in need of future analysis by molecular methods.