Cryptoniscidae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of isopod

Isopoda

Isopods are an order of peracarid crustaceans, including familiar animals such as woodlice and pill bugs. The name Isopoda derives from the Greek roots and...

 crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s in the suborder Cymothoida

Cymothoida

Cymothoida is a suborder of isopod crustaceans. It contains the following superfamilies and families:*Superfamily Anthuroidea**Antheluridae**Anthuridae**Expanathuridae**Hyssuridae**Leptanthuridae**Paranthuridae*Superfamily Cymothooidea**Aegidae...

. The original description was made by Kossmann in 1880. Liriopsidae is a junior synonym. Members of this family are hyperparasite

Hyperparasite

A hyperparasite is a parasite whose host is a parasite. This form of parasitism is especially common among entomophagous parasites....

s of rhizocephalid

Rhizocephala

Rhizocephala are derived barnacles that parasitise decapod crustaceans. Their bauplan is uniquely reduced in an extreme adaptation to their parasitic lifestyle, and makes their relationship to other barnacles unrecognisable in the adult form...

 barnacles which are themselves parasites of decapod

Decapoda

The decapods or Decapoda are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers. It is estimated that the order contains nearly 15,000 species in around 2,700 genera, with...

 crustaceans. The morphology of the adult females gives little clue as to their true identity but the free living larvae show their true taxonomic affiliations.

The family contains the following genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

:

• Cryptoniscus F. Müller, 1864
• Danalia Giard, 1887
• Enthylacus Pérez, 1920
• Eumetor Kossmann, 1872
• Faba Nierstrasz & Brender à Brandis, 1930
• Liriopsis Schultze in Müller, 1859
• Perezina Nierstrasz & Brender à Brandis, 1930
• Zeuxokoma Grygier, 1993