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Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, with one species occupying caves above sea level. More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are commercially fished.
Pagurus is a genus of hermit crabs in the family Paguridae. Like other hermit crabs, their abdomen is not calcified and they use snail shells as protection. These marine decapod crustaceans are omnivorous, but mostly prey on small animals and scavenge carrion. Trigonocheirus and Pagurixus used to be considered subgenera of Pagurus, but the former is nowadays included in Orthopagurus, while the latter has been separated as a distinct genus.
Galathea is one of the largest genera of squat lobsters, containing 70 currently recognised species. Most species of Galathea live in shallow waters.
Galathea strigosa is a species of squat lobster found in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, from the Nordkapp to the Canary Islands, and in the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. It is edible, but not fished commercially. It is the largest squat lobster in the northeast Atlantic, reaching a length of 90 millimetres (3.5 in), or a carapace length of 53 mm (2.1 in), and is easily identified by the transverse blue stripes across the body.
Munidopsis is a genus of squat lobster. It is the second largest of all the genera of squat lobsters, after Munida, with over 200 species. Its members are mainly found on continental slopes and on abyssal plains. A few fossil species are also known, including specimens from the Campanian (Cretaceous).
Munida is the largest genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, with over 240 species.
Eumunida is a genus of squat lobsters. There are 29 recognised species in the genus, the majority of which are from the Pacific Ocean:
Chirostylus is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Chirostylidae, containing the following species:
Uroptychodes is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Chirostylidae, containing the following species:
Uroptychus is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Chirostylidae found across the Indo-Pacific. The genus Uroptychus contains the following species:
Agononida is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, containing the following species:
Anoplonida is a genus of squat lobsters, which are flattened dorsoventrally, in the family Munididae, containing the following species:
Babamunida is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, containing the following species:
Bathymunida is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, containing the following species:
Galacantha is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Munidopsidae, containing the following species:
Heteronida is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, containing the following species:
Paramunida is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Munididae, containing the following species:
Phylladiorhynchus is a genus of squat lobsters in the family Galatheidae, containing the following species:
The Galatheoidea are a superfamily of decapod crustaceans comprising the porcelain crabs and some squat lobsters. Squat lobsters within the three families of the superfamily Chirostyloidea are not closely related to the squat lobsters within the Galatheoidea. The fossil record of the superfamily extends back to the Middle Jurassic genus Palaeomunidopsis.
Chirostyloidea is an anomuran superfamily with squat lobster-like representatives. It comprises the three families Chirostylidae, Eumunididae and Kiwaidae. Although representatives of Chirostyloidea are superficially similar to galatheoid squat lobsters, they are more closely related to Lomisoidea and Aegloidea together forming the clade Australopoda. No fossils can be confidently assigned to the Chirostyloidea, although Pristinaspina may belong either in the family Kiwaidae or Chirostylidae.
References
- ↑ Keiji Baba; Enrique Macpherson; Gary C. B. Poore; Shane T. Ahyong; Adriana Bermudez; Patricia Cabezas; Chia-Wei Lin; Martha Nizinski; Celso Rodrigues; Kareen E. Schnabel (2008). "Catalogue of squat lobsters of the world (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura – families Chirostylidae, Galatheidae and Kiwaidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa . 1905: 1–220.
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