Phreatoicoid Isopoda, mound spring isopod

Code OR019999

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. In life the body is curled downward as in a typical amphipod. The eyes may be either small or prominent, the head is without a ridge at the posteroventral corner. The lateral lobes of the telson form a pair of vertical plates. The central part of the telson is rounded, emarginate or cleft, but does not form an upturned lobe as in the otherwise similar Mesamphisopidae. The uropods are relatively long, extending beyond the telson. Epigeic in habit, this family includes the mound-spring isopod, Phreatomerus latipes .

Horwitz et al. (1995) treats all four non-phreatocid Phreatoicidea as separate families. Wilson (1999) treats Hypsimetopidae, Phreatoicopsidae and Mesamphisopidae 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