Mysidae Haworth, 1825

Talbot, Suzette, 2009, A survey of Mysida from the Lizard Island area, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Subfamily Siriellinae (Crustacea, Mysida, Mysidae), Zootaxa 2114, pp. 1-49 : 5

Mysidae Haworth, 1825

Members of the Mysidae are differentiated from other small shrimp-like crustaceans by examination of the tail fan. At the base of their uropodal endopods is a pair of clearly visible statocysts, each consisting of a translucent vesicle containing a dense, rounded or oval statolith. These conspicuous uropodal statocysts are a distinctive feature of the family.

Mysid females carry their developing young in a brood pouch or marsupium, made up of overlapping petal-like plates that project ventrally from the coxae of the posterior thoracic legs. They have 8 pairs of biramous thoracic limbs, but none of them are chelate. Mysids also lack gills, gas exchange taking place through the thin membranous inner lining of the well-developed carapace, which is not attached to the last 4 thoracic segments.