An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea

and Dalens (1999) in that we include six families.
Roman and Dalens do not recognize the family Antheluridae
and of course could not have known
about the Expanathuridae and Leptanthuridae.
SUBORDER MICROCERBERIDEA
Wägele (1983) placed the family Microcerberidae
within the Aselloidea; Brusca and Wilson (1991)
considered the Microcerberoidea the sister group to
the Asellota and consequently suggested they not
be included among the Asellota. Our treatment of
the family as belonging to its own suborder and
superfamily follows Bowman and Abele (1982) but
is also in keeping with the suggestion of Brusca and
Wilson (1991). Additionally, we now treat the
monotypic family Atlantasellidae in this suborder
on the recommendation of G. D. F. Wilson (pers.
comm.).
SUBORDER FLABELLIFERA
Brusca and Wilson (1991) showed that the Flabellifera
was a paraphyletic grouping, a finding that
has been suggested also by other workers. Wägele
(1989) (rebutted to some degree by Wilson, 1996)
argued for dividing the flabelliferan families into
two somewhat smaller groups, the Cymothoida
and Sphaeromatidea (see Wägele, 1989). Wägele
would remove from the Flabellifera the family Atlantasellidae
(which he considers an Aselloidea).
The families Aegidae, Anuropidae, Argathonidae,
Cirolanidae, Corallanidae, Cymothoidae, and Tridentellidae
would belong to his grouping Cymothoida
Leach, 1814. The remaining families (Bathynataliidae,
Hadromastacidae, Keuyphyliidae, Limnoriidae,
Phoratopodidae, Plakarthriidae, Serolidae,
Sphaeromatidae, and Tecticepitidae) he would
place in the Sphaeromatoidea. Thus, the two most
current and most ambitious schemes of isopod phylogeny,
although agreeing in some respects, do not
agree even closely on how to treat the former flabelliferan
families (see also Brandt et al., 1999, for
a comparison of phylogenetic hypotheses of sphaeromatoid
families in light of the fossil family
Schweglerellidae). Roman and Dalens (1999) recognize
the Flabellifera, and divide it into three superfamilies:
Cirolanoidea (seven families), Sphaeromatoidea
(two families), and Seroloidea (two
families). We have retained the Flabellifera for the
current classification, knowing that this assemblage
cannot be considered monophyletic, and for now,
we have avoided the use of superfamilies. Recent
fossil finds (see Brandt et al., 1999) have pushed
back the origin of some former flabelliferan isopods,
indicating that the sphaeromatoid isopods, at
least, are of Late Jurassic ancestry or older.
Within the Flabellifera, the following changes
have been incorporated (listed alphabetically by
family): Ancinidae (elevated to family status by N.
L. Bruce, 1993), Argathonidae (removed per R.
Brusca, pers. comm.), Bathynomidae (removed per
B. Kensley, pers. comm.), Excorallanidae (removed
per B. Kensley, pers. comm.), Hadromastacidae (described
by Bruce and Müller, 1991), Lynseiidae (described
by Poore, 1987; removed per Cookson and
Poore, 1994; see also Bruce, 1988), Protognathiidae
(described by Wägele and Brandt, 1988; moved
from Gnathiidea per R. Brusca and also G. Wilson,
pers. comm.), Tecticepitidae (originally described as
a subfamily by Iverson, 1982; elevated to family
status by N. L. Bruce, 1993), and Tridentellidae
(described by Bruce, 1984).
N. L. Bruce (1993) presented a key to the known
flabelliferan families, reappraised the family Sphaeromatidae
Latreille (a family in rather dire need of
internal revision; see Harrison and Ellis, 1991), and
recognized as families the Ancinidae Dana and Tecticipitidae
Iverson.
G. Poore (pers. comm.) informs us that the Aegidae
is correctly attributed to White (1850) rather
than to Leach (there are no families mentioned in
the only paper that Leach published in 1815, the
date given in Bowman and Abele for this family).
He also informs us that the families Ancinidae, Cirolanidae,
and Serolidae are correctly attributed to
Dana (1852) instead of 1853 (as in Bowman and
Abele, 1982).
Bowman and Abele (1982) used the spelling Anuropodidae
for this isopod family, while noting
(1982: 21) that the tanaid family Anuropodidae Băcescu
was a homonym of the isopod family Anuropodidae
Stebbing. ICZN Opinion 1357 (ICZN,
1985b) dictated that the spelling of the isopod family
should be Anuropidae to remove the homonymy,
and thus we use Anuropidae as the correct
spelling of this isopod family.
The Plakarthriidae Hansen is, according to G.
Poore (pers. comm.), ‘‘an effective replacement
name for Chelonidiidae Pfeffer, 1887, but is conserved
under ICZN article 40’’; Dr. Poore suggests
that the date 1887 should follow Hansen, 1905, in
parentheses, as Plakarthriidae Hansen, 1905
(1887).
SUBORDER ASELLOTA
According to G. Wilson and G. Poore (pers.
comm.), the currently recognized superfamilies of
the Asellota are either poly- or paraphyletic (see
also Wilson, 1987) and will not stand the test of
time. Roman and Dalens (1999) treat the Asellota
as being comprised of four superfamilies (down one
from Bowman and Abele, 1982; the Protallocoxoidea
and its single family, Protallocoxidae, have
been removed). We have followed this arrangement
here, recognizing the superfamilies Aselloidea, Stenetrioidea,
Janiroidea, and Gnathostenetroidea.
The superfamily Pseudojaniroidea, proposed by
Wilson (1986), has been removed at his suggestion
(G. Wilson, pers. comm.; see also Serov and Wilson,
1999). Its former family, the Pseudojaniridae,
has been transferred to the Stenetrioidea following
the revision of the Pseudojaniridae by Serov and
Wilson (1999).
Contributions in Science, Number 39 Rationale 39