Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 151, 1–58. With 5 figures
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Original Article
REVISION OF THE BODOTRIIDAEP. A. HAYE
*Address for correspondence: Larrondo 1281, Casilla 117,
Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile. E-mail:
phaye@ucn.cl
Systematics of the genera of Bodotriidae
(Crustacea: Cumacea)
PILAR A. HAYE*
Departamento de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte,
Coquimbo, Chile; Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA)
Received February 2004; accepted for publication February 2007
The cumacean family Bodotriidae includes 382 species in 31 genera grouped in three subfamilies: Bodotriinae,
Mancocumatinae and Vaunthompsoniinae. Generic diagnoses are based on few characters that often have overlap-
ping states among genera, complicating the understanding of the relationships within the group. The goals of this
study are to illuminate the phylogenetic relationships among the genera of the Bodotriidae using morphological
characters and to review the systematics of the family. For this purpose, all species within each genus were studied
from the literature to code all the variability of genera for 109 variable morphological characters. Phylogenetic anal-
yses show that there is independent reduction of the pleopods in two clades from a plesiomorphic state of five pairs,
while the number of exopods of peraeopods has been reduced gradually in more derived groups of bodotriids. The sub-
family Bodotriinae is the most derived and the Vaunthompsoniinae the most basal, and is paraphyletic with the
Mancocumatinae embedded within it. No discriminatory characters were found between the subfamilies Mancocu-
matinae and Vaunthompsoniinae and they are not clearly separated in the phylogeny. Mancocumatinae is synony-
mized with Vaunthompsoniinae and all the genera of the former Mancocumatinae should be included within
Vaunthompsoniinae. Analyses of character evolution justify a few other taxonomic changes. All genera were
redescribed based on all the coded characters and a complete list of all valid species for each genus is included.
Finally, dichotomous keys for identification to genus level are provided. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London,
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 151, 1–58.
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: Bodotriinae – exopods – Mancocumatinae – phylogeny – pleopods – taxonomy –
Vaunthompsoniinae.
INTRODUCTION
The family Bodotriidae Scott, 1901 is the most diverse
of the cumacean families and has a worldwide distri-
bution in shallow and deep marine waters. There are
382 species and 31 genera, many of which consist of
only a few species or are monotypic. Others, such as
Cyclaspis Sars, 1865, include over 100 species. Unfor-
tunately, there is no one known unique character that
can be used to diagnose bodotriids; instead they are
differentiated from other cumaceans by a combination
of characters: presence of a pleotelson (articulated tel-
son has been fused to last pleonite), generally five
pairs of pleopods (occasionally four, three, two or zero
pairs), naviculoid shape on the dorsal part of the man-
dible, exopods always present in third maxillipeds
and in peraeopod 1, endopod of uropod uni- or bi-
articulated, branchial apparatus without gill-plates or
supports, and hepatic diverticula with four lobes. With
the exception of the pleotelson, the other diagnostic
characters are not known for all the genera of the
Bodotriidae and further studies may reveal that they
should not be used to diagnose the group.
The genera of the Bodotriidae are currently
arranged into three subfamilies: Bodotriinae Scott,
1901, Mancocumatinae Watling, 1977 and Vaunth-
ompsoniinae Sars, 1878. The differences among the
subfamilies relate to the number of pleopods on the