Chthamalus

Chthamalus
A colony of Chthamalus stellatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Thecostraca
Subclass: Cirripedia
Order: Balanomorpha
Family: Chthamalidae
Genus: Chthamalus
Ranzani, 1817 [1]

Chthamalus (χθαμαλός, "flat" or "on the ground"[2]) is a genus of barnacles that is found along almost all non-boreal coasts of the northern hemisphere, as well as many regions in the southern hemisphere. These small barnacles have been studied in part because of the taxonomic confusion over a group of species that, by and large, are morphologically and ecologically quite similar. In recent years, molecular techniques have identified a number of cryptic species that have been subsequently confirmed by taxonomists using morphological measurements.[3] Most recently the genus has been shown to be paraphyletic, with the genus Microeuraphia nested within Chthamalus.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WoRMS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ David H. McNicoll, M.D. (1863). Dictionary of Natural History Terms with their derivations. L. Reeve & Company. p. 91. etymology chthamalus.
  3. ^ John P. Wares (2020). "Small, flat, and gray: Cryptic diversity in chthamalid barnacles in the global context of marine coastal biogeography (Cirripedia: Balanomorpha: Chthamalidae)". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 40: 1–16. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruz086.
  4. ^ John P. Wares; M. Sabrina Pankey; Fabio Pitombo; Liza Gómez Daglio; Yair Achituv (2009). Bruno, John F. (ed.). "A "shallow phylogeny" of shallow barnacles (Chthamalus)". PLoS One. 4 (5): e5567. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.5567W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005567. PMC 2678261. PMID 19440543.