Phylogenetic analysis of Remipedia (Crustacea)

We present a cladistic analysis of the crustacean class Remipedia, including all 17 extant species currently assigned to the order Nectiopoda, with the Carboniferous fossil Tesnusocaris serving as an outgroup. We applied different methodological approaches and coding options to a basic matrix composed of 26 morphological characters. Our analyses strongly support monophyly of the Godzilliidae and affirm justification of the family Micropacteridae. However, the present taxonomic structure within the Speleonectidae is partly incompatible with our results, and we cannot exclude that the family is paraphyletic.