 The Cyclopinidae s. l. complex is the most primitive within the Cyclopoid order (Ho, 1994; Martinez Arbizu, 1997). The unifying apomorphy of the representatives of this complex is the female fully fused genital double somite, although the value of this character has been reduced by the discovery of the genus Muceddina, which displays only partial fusion between genital and first abdominal somites (Jaume & Boxshall, 1997; Huys & Boxshall, 1990, 1991).
From an ecological point of view representatives of the Cyclopinidae s. latu successfully colonized marine and brackish coastal habitats, littoral interstitial environments, hyperbenthic habitats, as well as they are well represented in the marine plankton, sea-ice crevices and anchialine caves. A few species have thus far been reported from inland fresh waters.
Copepods of the family Cyclopinidae
are known also from anchihaline caves and
the hyperbenthos of the deep-sea (Jaume
& Boxshall 1996, 1997; Martínez Arbizu
1997, 2000). Only one cyclopinid
(Barathricola rimensis Humes, 1999) has been described from the hydrothermal vents (Humes
1999).
Recently, Martinez Arbizu (in press; pers. com.) removed most genera from the old family Cyclopinidae, transferring them to other, new families of cyclopoids (Pterinopsyllidae, Psammocyclopinidae, Hemicyclopinidae, Smirnovipinidae, Cyclopettidae, Cyclopicinidae, Giselinidae, Schminkepinellidae). Karanovic (2008) still consider the genera Cyclopinella and Hemicyclopina in the family Cyclopinidae. Following Martinez-Arbizu's (2001) opinion, presently, the family Cyclopinidae s. str. should include the following genera:
Type-species: Allocyclopina madagassica Kiefer, 1954
Type-species: Cryptocyclopina inopinata Monchenko, 1979
Type-species: Arenocyclopina biarticulata Krishnaswamy, 1957
Type-species: Afrocyclopina platypus Wells, 1967
Type-species: Cyclopinopsis curticauda Smirnov, 1935
Type-species: Cyclopidina euacantha (Sars, 1913)
Type-species:Indocyclopina langi (Krshnaswamy, 1957)
Lindberg K. 1952. La sous-famille des Cyclopininae Kiefer (Crustacés Copépodes). Ark. Zool., 4 (16): 311-325.
Jaume D. & G. A. Boxshall, 1997. Two new genera of cyclopinid copepods (Cyclopoida: Cyclopinidae) from anchialine caves of the Canary and Balearic islands, with a key to genera of the family. Zool. J. Linnean Soc., 120: 79-101.
The Erebonasteridae is a family of
deep-water cyclopoid copepods including
nine species in five genera. Along with all other
families formerly placed in Poecilostomatoida it was
recently transferred to the order Cyclopoida (Martinez-
Arbizu, 2000; Boxshall & Halsey, 2004) [PDF] |
