Entoniscidae 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 marine 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 Robby Kossmann in 1881.

Members of this family are parasites

Parasitism

Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...

 of brachyuran

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

 and anomuran

Anomura

Anomura is a group of decapod crustaceans, including hermit crabs and others. Although the names of many anomurans includes the word crab, all true crabs are in the sister group to the Anomura, the Brachyura .-Description:The name Anomala reflects the unusual variety of forms in this group;...

 crabs, living in their host's haemocoel. A small chitin

Chitin

Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world...

ised hole develops through the host's exoskeleton through which the isopod can communicate with the environment. The female isopod bears little resemblance to any free-living isopod but the morphology of the larvae show where their taxonomic

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 affiliations lie.

Genera

• Achelion Hartnoll, 1966
• Cancrion Giard & Bonnier, 1886
• Diogenion Codreanu, Codreanu & Pike, 1960
• Entione Kossmann, 1881
• Entionella Miyashita, 1941
• Entoniscoides Miyashita, 1940
• Entoniscus Müller, 1862
• Grapsion Giard & Bonnier, 1886
• Micippion Shiino, 1942
• Paguritherium Reinhard, 1945
• Pinnotherion Giard & Bonnier, 1889
• Portunion Giard & Bonnier, 1886
• Priapion Giard & Bonnier, 1888
• Synalpheion Coutière, 1908
• Tiarinion Shiino, 1942
• Xanthion Shiino, 1942