Syncarida in Relation to the Interstitial Habitat

Abstract

THE Syncarida occupy an important position among the Crustacea, and are of considerable interest to carcinologists by virtue of certain primitive features which they show. The more typical forms, Anaspides and Paranaspides, are familiar to all zoologists, but it is possible that the less well-known Bathynellidæ may have an even greater interest. On account of their small size, these have tended to be overlooked, but no one has devoted more attention to them than has Dr. P. A. Chappuis, of the Speleological Institute at Cluj, in Transylvania. His work, extended over many years, has been carried on through the difficult times of the War, and the accounts of it have recently reached us in a series of papers dealing with subterranean fauna in general. As much of the more interesting results have been published in some of the less readily accessible journals of central and south-eastern Europe, a review of these may be of interest to zoologists.