Biology:Xylopaguridae

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Short description: Family of hermit crab

Xylopaguridae
Temporal range: Upper Albian–recent, 100.5–0 Ma[1]
FMIB 46952 Xylopagurus rectus (A M-Eds).jpeg
Xylopagurus rectus
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Superfamily: Paguroidea
Family: Xylopaguridae
Gašparič, Fraaije, Robin & de Angeli, 2016[1]
Type genus
Xylopagurus
A. Milne-Edwards, 1880

Xylopaguridae are a family of hermit crabs of the order Decapoda.[2][3] It was erected in 2016 to accommodate one new genus, Prexylopagurus, and three existing genera that had previously been placed in Paguridae. They occur in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.[1]

Some sources do not recognize Xylopaguridae and list the species and genera that were transferred to it under their original family, Paguridae.[4]

Evolution

The oldest record of the family is Paguritergites yvonnecooleae,[1] the only known species of its genus,[5] from the upper Albian (mid-Cretaceous) of northwest Spain.[1] The family appears to have evolved in the Tethys Ocean.[1]

Description and ecology

Xylopagurids have an elongated, subcylindrical carapace. They are adapted to live in cavities such as hollow pieces of bamboo and driftwood, or in empty polychaete tubes.[1] Unlike typical hermit crabs, they inhabit open-ended cavities which they enter head-first. The posterior opening of the cavity is blocked by a strongly calcified portion of the abdomen, whereas a massive, strongly armed right cheliped protects the anterior opening.[6]

Xylopagurids occur from shallow waters to depths of several hundreds of meters, the record being Prexylopagurus caledonicus dredged from a depth of 591 metres.[1]

Genera

There are four genera, two of which are extant:[2]

References


Wikidata ☰ Q124215314 entry