Marine Biology (2+1)

6.Genus: Pleurosigma - Diatom

                                                   

6. Genus: Lucifer

Species: Lucifer hanseni

Phylum : Arthropoda

Class : Crustacea

Order: Decapoda
Sub order : Dendrobranchiata

Description: The luciferids are holoplanktonic and readily distinguished by the extreme elongation of the cephalothorax , which shifts the oral appendages far away from the antennae. The body of the adult reaches 1 cm in length and the head alone is 0.25 cm long . The animal is laterally compressed. The 5th (also at times the 4th) pereiopod is absent or vestigial . Gills and luminescent organs are absent . However, luminescent cells apparently are present in the telson . The male is characterised by a petasma and spermatophore . The inshore lucifers are known to have shorter eye-stalks than their offshore relatives.