Remipedes, class Remipedia, are blind, worm-like crustaceans discovered only in 1981, living exclusively in flooded cave systems connected to the sea, mostly in the Caribbean, the Canary Islands and Western Australia. They are among the very few crustaceans known to be venomous, using fang-like appendages behind the mouth to inject prey with venom, and their unusual, uniformly segmented body plan has made them significant to scientific debate over the evolutionary origins of the crustacean and insect body plans.
Facts
Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceBlind, elongate crustaceans with paddle-like swimming appendages on each trunk segment 1 Classification
System (Realm) Scientific Name Sources
1. Remipedia (Wikipedia)
Introduction
Remipedia
Description, blindness clause
blind crustaceans
system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
They are found in coastal aquifers which contain saline groundwater, with populations identified in almost every ocean basin so far explored, including in Australia, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean.
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