Brief Summary
Read full entryThese tiny animals (less than 0.5mm) are parasites, usually of deep water crustaceans. They have lost many of the complex crustacean morphology and some have very simple, sac-like bodies (Tudge, 2000). They have been known to infest copepods, isopods, tanaids, amphipods and ostracods (Boxshall & Lincoln, 1983).
One species, Tantulacus dieteri, at 85 microns in length, could be the smallest living arthropod (Mohrbeck et al, 2010).
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