GERKEN, S: Diversity, functional morphology, and phylogeny of the Gynodiastylidae (Crustacea: Cumacea).

Cumaceans are small, benthic marine crustaceans, commonly assumed to be deposit feeders, which at times are locally abundant. In the course of a monographic treatment of the family Gynodiastylidae, the number of species and genera doubled, with the vast majority of new species from the Bass Strait, a small area between Australia and Tasmania. Based on morphology, it is proposed that some gynodiastylid species are tube building filter feeders, a unique lifestyle within the Cumacea. A phylogenetic analysis at the generic level was undertaken, and relationships of the plesiomorphic genera are not well resolved; however, relationships of apomorphic genera are moderately resolved.