3-421: Dendrogastrida Grygier, 1987 Laurida Grygier, 1987 Ascothoracida is a small group of parasitic marine crustaceans , comprising around 100 species and divided into Dendrogastrida and Laurida. They are found throughout the world on cnidarians and echinoderms . Dendrogastrida are parasites on echinoderms, and Laurida are parasites on cnidarians, except from the species Waginella Grygier, which
6-526: Is also a parasite on echinoderms ( crinoids ). Piercing and sucking mouthparts are used for feeding, and more advanced forms also absorb nutrients through a modified integument of the carapace. More basal forms are ectoparasitic, but most genera are meso- and endoparasitic. The sexes are separate, except from secondary hermaphroditic species of the Petrarcidae. In many species the larger female often have smaller males living inside her mantle cavity. Ascothoracida
9-425: Was previously ranked as an order within the infraclass Cirripedia ( barnacles ), but now both Ascothoracida and Cirripedia are considered separate subclasses . Those two subclasses, along with Facetotecta , make up the class Thecostraca . The thorax of Ascothoracida species has six pair of biramous appendages , while the abdomen has four segments and a terminal telson with a caudal furca. This arrangement
#850149