ABSTRACT
Nectiopodan remipedes have unique mouthparts that permit a distinctive method of carnivory. The animals use their grappling mouthparts to capture prey, which are then apparently injected with some substance by means of large fangs on the tips of the maxillules. Tissues then appear to be sucked out of the prey cuticle, leaving an empty exoskeleton once the victim is devoured. The mandibles are completely enclosed within the chamber of the atrium oris and, in combination with batteries of spines on the floor and ceiling of the chamber, form a mandibular mill that thoroughly fragments and macerates all tissue passing out of the prey into the foregut of the nectiopodan. Comparison of Nectiopoda to their extinct sister group, the Carboniferous Enantiopoda, lends some further insight into the evolution of feeding types within the Crustacea.
