Gnathiidae 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. They occur in a wide range of depths, from the littoral zone to the deep sea. The adults are associated with sponges and may not feed. The juvenile form

Juvenile (organism)

A juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour...

 is known as a praniza larva, and it is a temporary parasite

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 marine fish.

Taxonomy in the family relies on male characters, such that females and juveniles cannot be reliably identified. The family contains 182 species, divided among the following genera:

• Afrignathia Hadfield & Smit, 2008
• Bathygnathia Dollfus, 1901
• Bythognathia Camp, 1988
• Caecognathia Dollfus, 1901
• Elaphognathia Monod, 1926
• Euneognathia Stebbing, 1893
• Gibbagnathia Cohen & Poore, 1994
• Gnathia
  Gnathia
  Gnathia is a genus of isopod crustaceans, containing the following species:*Gnathia africana Barnard, 1914*Gnathia albescens Hansen, 1916*Gnathia alces Monod, 1926*Gnathia andrei Pires, 1996*Gnathia antarctica...
  
  Leach, 1814
• Monodgnathia Cohen & Poore, 1994
• Paragnathia Omer-Cooper & Omer-Cooper, 1916
• Tenerognathia Tanaka, 2005
• Thaumastognathia Monod, 1926

External links

• Gnathiidae Australian Isopoda