Aeglidae

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Aeglidae
Temporal range: Albian–Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Infraorder:
Anomura
Superfamily:
Aegloidea

Dana, 1852
Family:
Aeglidae

Dana, 1852
Genera
  • Aegla Leach, 1820
  • Haumuriaegla Feldmann, 1984
  • Protaegla Feldmann et al., 1998

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The Aeglidae are a family of freshwater crustaceans currently restricted to South America. They are the only anomurans to be found in fresh water except for a single hermit crab species, Clibanarius fonticola, on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.[1] They live between 20° S and 50° S,[2] at altitudes between 320 and 3,500 m (1,050 and 11,480 ft).[3]

Description

Aeglids resemble squat lobsters in that the abdomen is partly tucked under the thorax. The notable sexual dimorphism in the abdomen is related to the behaviour of carrying fertilised eggs on the pleopods.[4] Aeglids are omnivorous, preferring plant matter, but also eating adult insects, molluscs, fish and fly larvae.[5]

Life cycle

Mating is preceded by a period of courtship, and does not coincide with moulting, as it does in many other decapods.[6] The eggs of aeglids hatch as juveniles which closely resemble the adults. They are cared for by their parents and live at the bottom of the body of water.[7]

Extant taxa

Aegla, the only extant genus in the family, contains around 74 described extant species.[8] Of the 63 species and subspecies described by 2008, two are found in lakes, four in caves, and the remaining 57 are found mainly in rivers.[3] 42 species are found in Brazil, all restricted to the country's southern and southeastern regions (Rio Grande do Sul alone is home to 24).[8] Other countries with species are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.[3] More than a third of the species are considered threatened.[3]

Species

This list contains all the described species as of 2013:[Note 1]

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Fossil taxa

Haumuriaegla

Haumuriaegla glaessneri is a species known only from fossils of Haumurian age (Late Cretaceous) found near Cheviot, New Zealand.[11] At the time of its discovery, Haumuriaegla was the only known fossil from the family and the only marine member.

Protaegla

Protaegla miniscula was discovered in rocks of Albian age from the Tlayúa Formation, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Mexico.[12]

Evolution

The family as a whole is thought to have originated around 75 million years ago in a marine environment,[3] and then entered South America from the Pacific side during the Oligocene.

References

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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  1. ↑ List comprises species listed by McLaughlin et al. (2010),[9] with updates from Santos et al. (2012)[10] and Santos et al. (2013).[8]


External links

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