Achelata

Taxobox
name = Achelata

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Panulirus interruptus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Crustacea
classis = Malacostraca
ordo = Decapoda
infraordo = Achelata
infraordo_authority = Scholtz & Richter, 1995
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision =
*Palinuridae
*Scyllaridae
*(Synaxidae)

The Achelata is an infra-order of the reptant Decapoda. It contains the spiny lobsters (Palinuridae), the slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) and the furry lobsters (Synaxidae, sometimes included in Palinuridae). The name "Achelata" derives from the fact that all the members of this group lack the claws that are found on almost all other decapods (from the Greek "a" = not, "chela" = claw). They are further united by the great enlargement of the first antennae, by the special "Phyllosoma" form of the larva, and by a number of other characters.

References

*cite journal |quotes=no |author=G. Scholtz & S. Richter |year=1995 |title=Phylogenetic systematics of the reptantian Decapoda (Crustacea, Malacostraca) |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=113 |pages=289–328 |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/zj/1995/00000113/00000003/art00011 |doi=10.1006/zjls.1995.0011