Kingdom Animalia Class Malacostraca Phylum Arthropoda | Subphylum Crustacea Scientific name Spelaeogriphacea Rank Order | |
Family Spelaeogriphidae
Gordon, 1957 Similar Thermosbaenacea, Mictacea, Anaspidacea, Bathynellacea, Syncarida | ||
Spelaeogriphacea is an order of crustaceans that grow to no more than 10 millimetres (0.39 in). Little is known about the ecology of the order.
Only four species, all subterranean, have been described. Of the three genera, Potiicoara is known only from a cave in Brazil's Mato Grosso, Spelaeogriphus only from a cave on Table Mountain in South Africa, and the two Mangkurtu species only from individual Australian aquifers. This widely separated distribution implies an early origin for the group, hypothesised as emerging at least 200 million years ago in the Tethys Sea around Gondwana.
The fossil species Acadiocaris novascotica is also considered to belong to the Spelaeogriphacea.
References
Spelaeogriphacea Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA