PARASTENHELIIDAE Lang, 1944; sensu Willen (2000)

"The family Parastenheliidae is a small group, at present including 4 genera and about 20 species (Gee 2006, Wells 2007, Back & Lee 2013). They are essentially marine, free-living and benthic, and mainly inhabit the intertidal zone or shallow subtidal habitats and frequently found among algal assemblages" (Boxshall & Halsey, 2004)


PSAMMOLEPTOMESOCHRA Mielke, 1994

  • Psammoleptomesochra australis Mielke, 1994 [Chile; psammon]


    PARASTENHELIA Thompson & A. Scott, 1903 (syn. Thalestrella Monard, 1935)

  • Parastenhelia antarctica Scott T., 1912
  • Parastenhelia aydini Kuru & Karaitug 2015 [Turkey]
  • Parastenhelia willemvervoorti Huys & Mu 2021 [China]
  • Parastenhelia bulbosa (Wells, 1963) [England; estuaries]
  • Parastenhelia costata Pallares, 1982 [Argentina; marine]
  • Parastenhelia forficula Lang, 1936
  • Parastenhelia forficula littoralis Lang, 1934 (syn. Parastenhelia spinosa (Fischer, 1860), Parastenhelia spinosa spinosa (Fischer, 1860)
  • Parastenhelia gracilis Brady, 1910 [Falkland, Kerguelen; marine]
  • Parastenhelia hornelli Thompson & A. Scott, 1903 [Black Sea, Sri Lanka, Antarctic (Livingston Island); sand banks with algae]
  • Parastenhelia littoralis (Sars G.O., 1911)
  • Parastenhelia littoralis f. penicillata (Willey)(?)
  • Parastenhelia littoralis f. scotti nom. no Sewll (?)
  • Parastenhelia jenkinsi [Australia; marine] Walker-Smith
  • Parastenhelia megarostrum Wells, Hicks & Coull, 1982 [New Zealand; estuaries]
  • Parastenhelia minuta Pallares, 1982 [Argentina; marine]
  • Parastenhelia oligochaeta Wells & Rao, 1987 [Andaman, Nicobar islands; marine]
  • Parastenhelia ornatissima Por, 1964 (syn. Karllangia ornatissima (Monard, 1935)
  • Parastenhelia pyriformis Song et al., 2003 [Korea; sandy bottoms]
  • Parastenhelia reducta Apostolov, 1975[Black Sea; sandy bottom]
  • Parastenhelia similis Thompson I.C. & Scott A., 1903
  • Parastenhelia spinosa (Fischer, 1860) [Europe; north Africa; marine]
  • Parastenhelia spinosa f. bulgarica Apostolov, 1968 [Bulgaria;brackish waters]
  • Parastenhelia tenuis Brady, 1910 (syn. Antarcticobradya tenuis (Brady, 1910)

    WORLD KEY TO PARASTENHELIA SPECIES


    FOWEYA Gee, 2006

  • Foweya anglica (Norman & T. Scott, 1905) [England; marine]
  • Foweya tertia (Kunz, 1975) [south Africa; tidal pools]


    JOHNWELLSIA Huys & Mu, 2021

  • Johnwellsia bipartita Huys & Mu, 2021 [China]


    KARLLANGIA Noodt, 1964 (Karllangia is synonym of Thalestrella (after Huys & Mu (2021)

    The genus Karllangia Noodt, 1964, formerly included in the family Ameiridae, has been recently removed to Parastenheliidae Lang, 1944 (Willen, 2000). The genus presently shows a scattered distribution, suggesting a circumtropical-subtropical distribution but, as Mielke (1994) suggest, "any statement on its biogeography is surely premature".

  • Thalestrella arenicola arenicola (Noodt, 1964) [Africa; marine interstitial] *
  • Thalestrella bengalensis Wells & Rao, 1987 [Andaman, Nicobar; coastal waters]
  • Thalestrella obscura Mielke, 1994 [Costa Rica; mesopsammon]
  • Thalestrella ornatissima (Monard, 1935) [France, marine sand]
  • Thalestrella psammophila Wells, 1967
  • Thalestrella pulchra Mielke, 1994 [Costa Rica; mesopsammon]
  • Thalestrella reducta (Apostolov, 1975) [Black sea] **
  • Karllangia tertia Kunz, 1975 (syn. Foweya tertia (Kunz, 1975)

    * syn. Karllangia psammophila Wells, 1967 (Wells & Rao, 1987)

    ** incertae sedis according to Gee, 2006


    | KEY TO SPECIES OF KARLLANGIA - THALESTRELLA|

    Review of the family and key to genera


    PENICILLICARIS Huys & Mu, 2021

  • Penicillicaris pectinimana Huys & Mu, 2021 [China]
  • Penicillicaris maldivensis Huys & Mu, 2021 [China]
  • Penicillicaris penicillata Huys & Mu, 2021 [China]
  • Penicillicaris sewelli Huys & Mu, 2021 [China]

    Key to species of Penicillicaris


    PORIRUALIA Huys & Mu, 2021 [China]

    "The harpacticoid copepod genus, Porirualia Huys & Mu, 2021, belonging to the family Parastenheliidae Lang, 1936, was proposed by Huys & Mu (2021) includes two species: Porirualia megarostrum (Wells, Hicks & Coull, 1982) distributed in New Zealand, and P. pyriformis (Song, Kim & Chang, 2003) distributed in Korea. So far, all Porirualia species are endemic and seems to be restricted to shallow marine habitats (Song et al. 2003; 2012; Huys & Mu 2021)"(from: Ma et al., 2024)

  • Porirualia megarostrum (Wells, Hicks & Coull, 1982) comb. nov.
  • Porirualia ngankeeae Ma et al., 2024
  • Porirualia pyriformis (Song et al., 2003 )




    RHIZOTRICHIDAE Por, 1986


    RHIZOTHRIX Brady & Robertson, 1875

    (sy(Wells, Hicks & Coull, 1982) comb. novn. Quintanus Wilson C.B., 1932; Rhizothrix Brady & Robertson, 1876; Rhizothrix (Rhizothrix) Brady & Robertson, 1876 ; Rhizothrix (Tryphoema) Monard, 1926)


    "The genus Rhizothrix Brady & Robertson, 1875 has a complex history. Brady & Robertson (1875) created the genus to accommodate R. curvata Brady & Robertson, 1875, the type species, but they did not include any description of the species. Later, Brady (1880) offered a detailed description of R. curvata. Pennak (1942) created the genus Adelopoda Pennak, 1942 and assigned it to the family Canthocamptidae Sars, 1906. Bodin (1997) was of the opinion that Adelopoda should have been assigned to the Cletodidae. Boz¡ic´ (1953) considered Adelopoda a subgenus of Rhizothrix. Wells (1963) considered Adelopoda a synonym of Tryphoema Monard, 1926 and suggested that Tryphoema had to be considered a subgenus of Rhizothrix. Lang (1965) considered Rhizothrix and Tryphoema distinct, and reallocated the genus Adelopoda into the genus Tryphoema.

    Por (1986) allocated the genera Rhizothrix and Tryphoema to the family Rhizothricidae Por, 1986. with other members of the genus.

    Currently, 12 species and subspecies are included within Rhizothrix. The type species of the genus, Rhizothrix curvata, was reported from British coasts.

    Later, Scott (1903) reported R. minuta (T. Scott, 1903) and R. gracilis (T. Scott, 1903) from Scotland. Wilson (1932) described R. tenella (Wilson, 1932) from the Atlantic coast of North America, and Lang (1936) reported R. scotti (Lang, 1936) from the Arctic Ocean. Since Lang’s (1948) monograph, six species and subspecies have been added: R. reducta Noodt, 1952; R. reducta noodti Galhano, 1970; R. pubescens Por, 1959; R. quadriseta Wells, 1967; R. spinosa Coull, 1971; and R. wilsoni Bodin, 1979. Most recently, Arlt (1983) reported R. cf. minuta from the Baltic Sea and discussed the differences observed between his R. cf. minuta and R. minuta" (from: Nam & Le, 2005).


  • Rhizothrix bocqueti Bozic, 1953 (syn. Tryphoema bocqueti (Bozic, 1953)
  • Rhizothrix curvata Brady & Robertson, 1875 [Europe; marine sand]
  • Rhizothrix dolsandoensis [Korea]
  • Rhizothrix gracilis (T. Scott, 1903) [north Europe; marine sand]
  • Rhizothrix longiseta Gomez, 2018 [California]
  • Rhizothrix lusitanica Wells & Clark, 1965 (syn. Tryphoema lusitanica (Wells & Clark, 1965)
  • Rhizothrix minuta (T. Scott, 1903) [north Europe; marine sand]
  • Rhizothrix pubescens Por, 1959 [Black Sea]
  • Rhizothrix quadriseta Wells,1967 [Mozambique; marine]
  • Rhizothrix ramabula (Pennak, 1942) (syn. Tryphoema ramabula (Pennak, 1942)
  • Rhizothrix reducta reducta Noodt, 1952 [Sylt island; marine]
  • Rhizothrix reducta noodti Galhano, 1970 [Portugal; marine interstitial]
    Rhizothrix scilloniensis Wells, 1968 (syn. Tryphoema scilloniensis (Wells, 1968)
  • Rhizothrix sejongi Jung Nam & Lee, 2005 [Korea; sandy beach]
  • Rhizothrix scotti (Lang, 1936) [Arctic Ocean]
  • Rhizothrix spinosa Coull, 1971 [USA; marine]
  • Rhizothrix tenella (Wilson, 1932) [USA; Atlantic coast]
  • Rhizotrix virginiae Björnberg, 2014 [Brazil]
  • Rhizothrix wilsoni Bodin, 1979 [France; marine]

    | KEY TO THE SPECIES OF GENUS RHIZOTHRIX |


    TRYPHOEMA Monard, 1926 [syn. ADELOPODA Pennak, 1942] (syn. Adelopoda Pennak, 1942)

  • Tryphoema bocqueti (Bozic, 1953) [France; marine sand]
  • Tryphoema gallipolenis Sak & Metin, 2016 [Turkey]
  • Tryphoema irmgardae Packmor, 2013 [Spain]
  • Tryphoema lusitanica (Wells & Clark, 1965) [Portugal; marine interstitial]
  • Tryphoema porca Monard, 1926
  • Tryphoema ramabula (Pennak, 1942) [USA; marine sand]
  • Tryphoema riedli Coull, 1971 [USA; marine sand]
  • Tryphoema scilloniensis (Wells, 1968) [Scilly island; marine]
  • Tryphoema werneri Packmor, 2013 [Spain]

    MONOPENICILLUS George et al., 2023

  • Monopenicillus anke George et al., 2023 [Baltic sea]




    | PAGE UPDATED NOVEMBER 11.2024|

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