Colossendeidae is a family of sea spiders (class Pycnogonida). This family includes more than 100 species distributed among six genera. These sea spiders inhabit the deep sea mostly but are also found in shallower waters, especially in Antarctic and Arctic waters.

Description

Most colossendeids can grow to giant sizes as adults, far larger than any other sea spiders. The largest sea spider, Colossendeis colossea, can reach a leg span of 70 cm, whereas the subfamily Hedgpethiinae includes tiny species with leg span of less than 1 cm. Like most sea spiders, colossendeids usually have four pairs of legs in adults, except for three species, Decolopoda australis, D. qasimi, and Pentacolossendeis reticulata, with five leg pairs, and one species, Dodecolopoda mawsoni, with six leg pairs.

Colossendeids typically have no chelifores, except in the extra-legged species which have robust pincers and 2-segmented scapes. The palps and ovigers are present in both males and females, they are elongated with basal processes located very close to each other. The palps have 8 or 9 segments (historically 9 or 10 as the basal process was once thought to be a segment) while the ovigers have 10 segments. Each oviger ends in a strong terminal claw and compound spines arranged in fields or rows on a well formed strigilis (hook-like distal segments). The proboscis is long, usually longer than the body. The body and legs are usually glabrous. The trunk segments are either segmented (Hedgpethiinae) or fused (Colossendeinae). The legs are very long, and the terminal main claws have no auxiliary claws. gonopores represented on some or all legs.

Taxonomy

  • Colossendeinae Jarzynsky, 1870 Colossendeis Jarzinsky, 1870 (67 species) Colossendeis acuta Stiboy-Risch, 1993 Colossendeis adelpha Child, 1998 Colossendeis angusta Sars, 1877 Colossendeis aperta Turpaeva, 2005 Colossendeis arcuata A. Milne-Edwards, 1885 Colossendeis australis Hodgson, 1907 Colossendeis avida Pushkin, 1970 Colossendeis belekurovi Pushkin, 1993 Colossendeis bicincta Schimkewitsch, 1893 Colossendeis brevirostris Child, 1995 Colossendeis bruuni Fage, 1956 Colossendeis clavata Meinert, 1899 Colossendeis colossea Wilson, 1881 Colossendeis concedis Child, 1995 Colossendeis cucurbita Cole, 1909 Colossendeis curtirostris Stock, 1963 Colossendeis dalli Child, 1995 Colossendeis drakei Calman, 1915 Colossendeis elephantis Child, 1995 Colossendeis enigmatica Turpaeva, 1974 Colossendeis ensifer Child, 1995 Colossendeis fijigrypos Bamber, 2004 Colossendeis fragilis Pushkin, 1993 Colossendeis gardineri Carpenter, 1907 Colossendeis geoffroyi Mane-Garzon, 1944 Colossendeis gibbosa Mobius, 1902 Colossendeis glacialis Hodgson, 1907 Colossendeis gracilis Hoek, 1881 Colossendeis grassa Pushkin, 1993 Colossendeis hoeki Gordon, 1944 Colossendeis insolita Pushkin, 1993 Colossendeis japonica Hoek, 1898 Colossendeis korotkevitschi Pushkin, 1984 Colossendeis kurtchatovi Turpaeva, 1993 Colossendeis leninensis Pushkin, 1993 Colossendeis leptorhynchus Hoek, 1881 Colossendeis longirostris Gordon, 1938 Colossendeis losinskii Turpaeva, 2002 Colossendeis macerrima Wilson, 1881 Colossendeis media Hoek, 1881 Colossendeis megalonyx Fry & Hedgpeth, 1969 Colossendeis melancholicus Stock, 1975 Colossendeis mica Pushkin, 1970 Colossendeis microsetosa Hilton, 1943 Colossendeis minor Schimkewitsch, 1893 Colossendeis minuta Hoek, 1881 Colossendeis mycterismos Bamber, 2004 Colossendeis nasuta Hedgpeth, 1949 Colossendeis notialis Child 1995 Colossendeis oculifera Stock, 1963 Colossendeis peloria Child, 1994 Colossendeis perforata Turpaeva, 1993 Colossendeis pipetta Stock, 1991 Colossendeis proboscidea (Sabine) Colossendeis robusta Hoek, 1881 Colossendeis rostrata Turpaeva, 1994 Colossendeis scoresbii Gordon, 1932 Colossendeis scotti Calman, 1915 Colossendeis sinuosa Stock, 1997 Colossendeis spicula Child, 1994 Colossendeis stramenti Fry and Hedgpeth, 1969 Colossendeis subminuta Schimkewitsch, 1893 Colossendeis tenera Hilton, 1943 Colossendeis tenuipedis Pushkin, 1993 Colossendeis tethya Turpaeva, 1974 Colossendeis tortipalpis Gordon, 1932 Colossendeis vityazi Turpaeva, 1973 Colossendeis wilsoni Calman, 1915 Decolopoda Eights, 1835 Decolopoda australis Eights, 1835 — Scotia Sea (littoral) Decolopoda quasimi Sree, Sreepada & Parulekar, 1993 Dodecolopoda Calman & Gordon, 1933 Dodecolopoda mawsoni Calman & Gordon, 1933 — Scotia Sea Pentacolossendeis Hedgpeth, 1943 Pentacolossendeis reticulata Hedgpeth, 1943
  • Hedgpethiinae Pushkin, 1990 Hedgpethia Turpaeva, 1973 (12 species) Rhopalorhynchus Rhopalorhynchus cinclus Bamber, 2001 — Bodgaya Southern Rim Reef, Malaysia (on a sponge) Rhopalorhynchus claudus Stock, 1975 — Barbados (muddy sand, shell debris, sponge bottom) Rhopalorhynchus clavipes Carpenter, 1893 — Torres Strait (between reefs) Rhopalorhynchus filipes Stock, 1991 — between Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia, near Chesterfield Island Rhopalorhynchus gracillimus Carpenter, 1907 — Maldive Islands (on a black crinoid) Rhopalorhynchus kroeyeri Wood-Mason, 1873 — Andaman Islands (on the bottom of filamentous algae) Rhopalorhynchus lomani Stock, 1958 — Makassar Strait, Indonesia Rhopalorhynchus mortenseni Stock, 1958 — off Jolo, Sulu Archipelago (on sand and corals) Rhopalorhynchus pedunculatum Stock, 1957 — Red Sea (shore) Rhopalorhynchus sibogae Stock, 1958 — Flores Sea, Indonesia (on mud and sand) Rhopalorhynchus tenuissimus Haswell, 1884 — Port Denison, Australia

Sources

  • PycnoBase: