Majoidea

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Majoidea
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Recent
Macropodia rostrata.jpg
Macropodia rostrata (Inachidae)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Subsection: Heterotremata
Superfamily: Majoidea
Samouelle, 1819

The Majoidea are a superfamily of crabs which includes the various spider crabs.

Contents

Taxonomy

In "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" De Grave and colleagues divided Majoidea into six families: [1]

The classification has since been revised, with subfamilies Epialtinae and Mithracinae being elevated to families and Hymenosomatidae being moved to its own superfamily. The family composition according to the World Register of Marine Species is as follows: [2]

Notable species within the superfamily include:

There is one fossil family, Priscinachidae, represented by a single species, Priscinachus elongatus , from the Cenomanian of France. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crab</span> Crustacean

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers on each arm. They first appeared during the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decapoda</span> Order of crustaceans

The Decapoda or decapods are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 extant species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp and Anomura including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossils of the group date to the Devonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese spider crab</span> Species of crab

The Japanese spider crab is a species of marine crab and is the biggest one that lives in the waters around Japan. At around 3.7 meters, it has the largest leg-span of any arthropod. The Japanese name for this species is taka-ashi-gani,, literally translating to “tall legs crab”. It goes through three main larval stages along with a prezoeal stage to grow to its great size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocypodoidea</span> Superfamily of crabs

The Ocypodoidea, or ocypoid crabs, are a superfamily of crabs, named after the genus Ocypode. It contains over 300 extant species in these eight families:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymenosomatidae</span> Family of crabs

Hymenosomatidae is a family of crabs with some 110 described species in 24 genera. The following genera are placed in the Hymenosomatidae:

<i>Maja squinado</i> Species of crab

Maja squinado is a species of migratory crab found in the north-east Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The appearance of the European spider crab is similar to the much larger Japanese spider crab, although the European spider crab belongs to the family Majidae, and the Japanese spider crab belongs to a different family of crabs, the Inachidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Majidae</span> Family of crabs

Majidae is a family of crabs, comprising around 200 marine species inside 52 genera, with a carapace that is longer than it is broad, and which forms a point at the front. The legs can be very long in some species, leading to the name "spider crab". The exoskeleton is covered with bristles to which the crab attaches algae and other items to act as camouflage.

<i>Maja</i> (crab) Genus of crabs

Maja is a genus of majid crabs erected by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1801. It includes the following extant species:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heterotremata</span> Clade of crabs

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Actinotocarcinus is an extinct genus of Miocene crab, and is the only genus in the subfamily Actinotocarcininae of the family Epialtidae, though was originally classified in the family Majidae. Actinotocarcinus comprises two species, A. chidgeyi, and A. maclauchlani, both from Miocene-aged marine strata of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inachidae</span> Family of crabs

Inachidae is a family of crabs, containing 39 genera:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epialtidae</span> Family of crabs

Epialtidae is a family of crabs, containing the subfamilies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galatheoidea</span> Superfamily of crustaceans

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.

<i>Oregonia</i> (crab) Genus of crabs

Oregonia is a genus of crabs, comprising two extant species and one fossil species: It is classified in the family Oregoniidae under the spider crab superfamily Majoidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crabs of the British Isles</span>

Around 65 species of crab occur in the waters of the British Isles. All are marine, with the exception of the introduced Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, which occurs in fresh and brackish water. They range in size from the deep-water species Paromola cuvieri, which can reach a claw span of 1.2 metres, to the pea crab, which is only 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and lives inside mussel shells.

<i>Hyastenus</i> Genus of crabs

Hyastenus is a genus of crabs in the family Epialtidae, subfamily Pisinae, containing the following extant species:

<i>Pyromaia tuberculata</i> Species of crab

Pyromaia tuberculata is a species of crab in the family Inachoididae.

<i>Libinia spinosa</i> Species of crustacean

Libinia spinosa is a majoid crab found in mud and sand bottoms of the Southwestern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a generalist feeder on organisms such as algae, sponges, cnidarians, mollusks, polychaetes, crustaceans, and small fish. It commonly engages in a symbiotic relationship with the medusa Lychnorhiza lucerna.

<i>Limnopilos</i> Genus of Southeast Asian crabs

Limnopilos is a genus of small hymenosomatid crabs endemic to Southeast Asia. The genus was described by Christina Chuang and Peter Ng in 1991, who identified the new species Limnopilos naiyanetri and distinguished it from the closely related genus Hymenicoides. Its true taxonomic classification was debated for several years, but in 2007 the discovery of a new species of crab in this genus solidified the distinction between Limnopilos and Hymenicoides. Many aspects of the genus Limnopilos are still poorly understood. Their ecology and natural history have not been studied in detail, and their reproductive cycle remains mysterious.

References

  1. Sammy De Grave; N. Dean Pentcheff; Shane T. Ahyong; et al. (2009). "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . Suppl. 21: 1–109. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06.
  2. WoRMS. "Majoidea Samouelle, 1819". World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. Martha Holmes & Michael Gunton (2009). Life: Extraordinary Animals, Extreme Behaviour. London: BBC Books. ISBN   9781846076428.
  4. Gérard Breton (1 September 2009). "Description of Priscinachus elongatus n. gen., n. sp., and Priscinachidae n. fam. for the earliest spider crab (Crustacea, Decapoda, Majoidea), from the French Cretaceous (Cenomanian)" (PDF). Geodiversitas (in French and English). 31 (3): 509–523. doi:10.5252/g2009n3a2. S2CID   85827715.