Anarthruridae Lang, 1971

Drumm, David T. & Bird, Graham J., 2016, New deep-sea Paratanaoidea (Crustacea: Peracarida: Tanaidacea) from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, Zootaxa 4154 (4), pp. 389-414 : 403

Anarthruridae Lang, 1971

Diagnosis. See Larsen (2005).

Remarks. The family is comprised of eleven genera including the one described here ( Anderson 2014). Bird (2004) erected five new genera from the Northeast Atlantic and summarized the taxonomic history of the family. Since then two more genera have been established by Bamber & Błażewicz-Paszkowycz (2013) and Błażewicz- Paszkowycz et al (2013).

Members of this family are distinguished from other families by, inter alia, having a short and round cephalothorax, weak mandibles, a cheliped with a large pseudocoxa (sensu Sieg) and basis without a free posterior lobe, chela often with a lateral fold or distal protuberance, pereopods 1–3 with only setae on the merus and carpus, pereopods 4–6 generally with short claws (dactylus and unguis), and a non-articulated (fused) uropod exopod. Another character potentially uniting this family is the long seta attached to the base of the dactylus on pereopods 1–3; this accessory seta is present in many other groups but is particularly long in many anarthrurids. Only one anarthrurid species ( Anarthruropsis edentula Larsen, 2005 ) has been described from the Gulf of Mexico until now.

Type genus. Anarthrura G.O. Sars, 1882 .

Other genera. Acinoproscelos Bamber & Błażewicz-Paszkowycz, 2013 ; Anarthrurella Bird, 2004 ; Anarthruropsis Lang, 1968 ; Anisopechys Bird, 2004 ; Crenicarpus n. gen.; Ithyomus Bird, 2004 ; Keska Błażewicz- Paszkowycz, Bamber, & Jóźwiak, 2013; Siphonolabrum Lang, 1972 ; Synanarthrura Bird, 2004 ; Thorkelius Bird, 2004 .