Matutidae Temporal range: | |
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Ashtoret lunaris , dorsal side | |
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Male Ashtoret lunaris , ventral side | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Crustacea |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
(unranked): | Reptantia |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Section: | Eubrachyura |
Subsection: | Heterotremata |
Superfamily: | Calappoidea |
Family: | Matutidae De Haan, 1835 [1] |
Genera | |
See text |
Matutidae is a family of crabs, sometimes called moon crabs, [2] adapted for swimming or digging. They differ from the swimming crabs of the family Portunidae in that all five pairs of legs are flattened, rather than just the last pair, as in Portunidae. Crabs in the Matutidae are aggressive predators. [3]
Traditionally, this taxon contained the single genus Matuta , and was considered a subfamily of the Calappidae. [3] Now, the group is ranked as a family and six genera (four extant and two fossil) are now recognised. [4] Although placed in the Calappoidea, it is not clear that Matutidae and Calappidae are closely related. [5]
Szaboa is known only from Hungarian fossil deposits of Middle Miocene age. [6] Eomatuta was described from the Middle Eocene of Italy in 2009. [7] Fossils of Ashtoret have also been found in Miocene deposits in Japan. [6]
Portunidae is a family of crabs which contains the swimming crabs.
Calappoidea is a superfamily of crabs comprising the two families Calappidae and Matutidae. The earliest fossils attributable to the Calappoidea date from the Aptian.
Cancridae is a family of crabs. It comprises six extant genera, and ten exclusively fossil genera, in two subfamilies:
Discoplax is a genus of terrestrial crabs. It is very closely related to the genus Cardisoma.
Potamonautidae is a family of freshwater crabs endemic to Africa, including the islands of Madagascar, the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Mafia, Pemba, Bioko, São Tomé, Príncipe and Sherbro Island. It comprises 18 extant genera and 138 extant species. Fossil remains dating from the Late Miocene period have been attributed to the family Potamonautidae.
Hexapodidae is a family of crabs, the only family in the superfamily Hexapodoidea. It has traditionally been treated as a subfamily of the family Goneplacidae, and was originally described as a subfamily of Pinnotheridae. Its members can be distinguished from all other true crabs by the reduction of the thorax, such that only seven sternites are exposed, and only four pairs of pereiopods are present. Not counting the enlarged pair of claws, this leaves only six walking legs, from which the type genus Hexapus, and therefore the whole family, takes its name. Some anomuran "crabs", such as porcelain crabs and king crabs also have only four visible pairs of legs. With the exception of Stevea williamsi, from Mexico, all the extant members are found either in the Indo-Pacific oceans, or around the coast of Africa.
Scylla is a genus of swimming crabs, comprising four species, of which S. serrata is the most widespread. They are found across the Indo-West Pacific. The four species are:
Eubrachyura is a group of decapod crustaceans comprising the more derived crabs. It is divided into two subsections, based on the position of the genital openings in the two sexes. In the Heterotremata, the openings are on the legs in the males, but on the sternum in females, while in the Thoracotremata, the openings are on the sternum in both sexes. This contrasts with the situation in other decapods, in which the genital openings are always on the legs. Heterotremata is the larger of the two groups, containing the species-rich superfamilies Xanthoidea and Pilumnoidea and all the freshwater crabs. The eubrachyura is well known for actively and constantly building its own burrows. The fossil record of the Eubrachyura extends back to the Cretaceous; the supposed Bathonian representative of the group, Hebertides jurassica, ultimately turned out to be Cenozoic in age.
Metacarcinus is a genus of crabs formerly included in the genus Cancer. It includes nine exclusively fossil species and five extant species, of which four are also known from the fossil record. A molecular study using the cytochrome oxidase I gene does not support the monophyly of this genus.
Cheiragonidae is a small family of crabs, sometimes called helmet crabs, placed in its own superfamily, Cheriagonoidea. It comprises three extant species, Erimacrus isenbeckii, Telmessus acutidens and Telmessus cheiragonus, there are no yet evidences of Cheiragonidae in the fossil record. Many of these crabs were formerly treated as members of the Atelecyclidae.
Pilumnoidea is a superfamily of crabs, whose members were previously included in the Xanthoidea. The three families are unified by the free articulation of all the segments of the male crab's abdomen and by the form of the gonopods. The earliest fossils assigned to this group are of Eocene age.
Tanaocheles is a genus of crabs, the only genus in the family Tanaocheleidae. It contains two species, T. bidentata and T. stenochilus. The two species were formerly placed in different families, and they were only shown to be related, and placed in a new subfamily, in 2000.
Actumnus is a genus of crabs in the family Pilumnidae. Alongside the 28 extant species, it has a fossil record extending back into the Miocene.
Palicoidea is a superfamily of crabs, comprising the two families Crossotonotidae and Palicidae. Together, they contain 13 genera, including two genera in the Palicidae known only from fossils. The two families were previously treated as two subfamilies in a Palicidae of wider circumscription.
Planes is a genus of crabs in the family Grapsidae that currently comprises three extant species: Planes minutus, Planes marinus Rathbun, 1914, and Planes major (=cyaneus). A further fossil species is known from the Middle Miocene of the Caucasus.
Ashtoret is a genus of crabs in the family Matutidae, containing the following species:
Karstarma is a genus of karst-dwelling crabs formerly included in Sesarmoides.
Polydectus cupulifer is a species of crab in the family Xanthidae, and the only species in the genus Polydectus. Together with the genus Lybia, it forms the subfamily Polydectinae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific, ranging from Madagascar and the Red Sea in the west to Japan, Hawaii and French Polynesia in the east. P. cupulifer is densely covered with setae (bristles), and frequently carries a sea anemone in each chela (claw).
Speocarcinus is a genus of crabs in the family Xanthidae, containing six extant species, one fossil species from the Late Miocene, one fossil species from the Eocene (Lutetian) and one fossil species from the Early Eocene (Ypresian):
Marratha angusta is a species of crabs in the family Xanthidae, the only species in the genus Marratha. It was originally described as Cycloxanthops angustus by Mary J. Rathbun in 1906, but was moved to a new genus in 2003; the name of the genus, Marratha, is an "arbitrary abbreviation" of Rathbun's name. It has been recorded from the Amirante Islands (Seychelles), Hawaii and the South China Sea.