Thompsonia (crustacean)
Genus of barnacles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thompsonia is a genus of barnacles which has evolved into an endoparasite of other crustaceans, including crabs and snapping shrimp.[1] It spreads through the host's body as a network of threads, and produces many egg capsules which emerge through joints in the host's shell.[2]
| Thompsonia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Thecostraca |
| Subclass: | Cirripedia |
| Infraclass: | Rhizocephala |
| Family: | Thompsoniidae |
| Genus: | Thompsonia Kossmann, 1872 |
| Type species | |
| Thompsonia globosa Kossmann, 1872 | |
Taxonomic history
The first scientific description of the genus was Robby Kossmann's description in 1872 of Thompsonia globosa.[3][4] Kossmann named the genus after John Vaughan Thompson, the Irish naturalist who had recognised the cirripedian affinities of the Rhizocephala.[3] The type specimens had been collected by Georg Semper in the East Indies, on the legs of the crab Lybia tessellata.[3] Eleven species are now recognised:[5]
- Thompsonia affinis Krüger, 1912
- Thompsonia chuni Häfele, 1911
- Thompsonia cubensis Reinhard & Stewart, 1956
- Thompsonia edwardsi Coutière, 1902
- Thompsonia globosa Kossmann, 1872
- Thompsonia haddoni Coutière, 1902
- Thompsonia japonica Häfele, 1911
- Thompsonia littoralis Lützen & Jespersen, 1990
- Thompsonia pilodiae Lützen & Jespersen, 1990
- Thompsonia reinhardi Lützen, 1992
- Thompsonia sinensis Keppen, 1877