Biodiversity and Taxonomy of the Parasitic Crustacea

Crustaceans have independently adopted a parasitic mode of life on numerous occasions, and this chapter reviews the classification and species richness of each of the parasitic clades, which lie within two major pancrustacean lineages, the Multicrustacea and the Oligostraca. Tabulated data are presented on the genera, species richness and host usage of the whale lice (Cyamidae); the generic and species richness of the families of hyperiidean amphipods; the generic and species richness and the host usage of the families and subfamilies of epicaridean isopods; the species richness, salinity regime and host taxon of cymothoid isopods; the generic and species richness and the host usage of the families of Ascothoracida and Rhizocephala; the species of Tantulocarida and their hosts; the generic and species richness and the host usage of the families and family-level groupings of cyclopoid and siphonostomatoid copepods; the species richness and salinity regimes of the genera of Branchiura; and the species richness and host usage of the genera of tongue worms (Pentastomida). Parasitic crustaceans use a total of 15 different phyla as hosts