Pycnogonidae

Pycnogonidae is a family of sea spiders.

Pycnogonidae
Pycnogonum littorale
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Pycnogonida
Order:	Pantopoda
Family:	Pycnogonidae Wilson, 1878 [1]
Genera
See text

Characteristics

Sea spiders of the family Pycnogonidae are recognisable by their stubby legs, rough-surfaced exoskeleton and the significant reduction of cephalic appendages. Chelifores (feeding pincers) and palps (sensory limbs) as seen in most other sea spiders are completely absent after postlarval metamorphosis, instead they using only their proboscis to suck juices from their cnidarian prey. Ovigers (cleaning and offspring-carrying limbs) are only retained in adult males, bring absent in all females of this family and exceptionally lost in both sexes of the subgenus Nulloviger.^[2] Their legs are noticeably stout and short, in contrast to other sea spiders with a slender appearance. Like most sea spiders, they usually have four pairs of legs, except for genus Pentapycnon with five pairs.^[3][4][5]

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species lists the following genera:^[6]

• Pentapycnon Bouvier, 1910
• Pycnogonum Bruennich, 1764