The rate of species description of epicarideans has been
inconsistent, with two clear peaks of activity in the 1920s and
1930s (largely thanks to the efforts of Nierstrasz & Brender a`
Brandis and Shiino) and again in the 1970s and 1980s (primarily
the work of Bourdon and Markham) (Figure 2). The earliest years
of description (1798–1869) resulted in relatively few species (34)
with approximately 26% of them later being relegated to
synonymy. In comparison, the past 31 years (1980–2011) have
not seen any new species described in this time interval placed into
synonymy. The per-decade rate of species descriptions is ,41
(excluding the incomplete decades of 1790s and 2010s). Overall,
9.3% of all species described have been synonymized.