Phreatoicoid Isopoda

Code OR049999

Elongate isopods belonging to the suborder Phreatoicidea: with a six-segmented pleon (5 visible abdominal segments plus the telson) and uropods that assist in movement by flicking or pushing the animal forward. Hypsimetopidae are eyeless, vermiform, and without pigmentation. The telson is rounded, without lateral lobes or other projections. Subterranean.

Horwitz et al. (1995) treat Hypsimetopidae as a separate family. Wilson (1999) classifies it within the family Amphisopidae (as Amphisopodidae).

References:

Horwitz, P., Knott, B. and Williams, W.D. (1995) A Preliminary Key to the Malacostracan Families (Crustacea) found in Australian Inland Waters . Co-operative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology Identification Guide No. 4., Albury, NSW.

Williams, W.D. (1980) Australian Freshwater Life: The Invertebrates of Australian Inland Waters. The Macmillan Company of Australia, Melbourne.

Wilson, G. D. ('Buz'). 1999. Preliminary phylogeny of the Phreatoicidea. Webpage at