font settings

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia

Decapoda

(Order)

Overview

[ Back to top ]

The decapods or Decapoda (literally "ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers. It is estimated that the order contains nearly 15,000 species in around 2,700 genera, with approximately 3,300 fossil species.1] Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp (?3000 species) and Anomura (including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters: c.?2500 species), making up the bulk of the remainder.[1] The earliest fossil decapod is the Devonian Palaeopalaemon.[2]

Anatomy

[ Back to top ]
Main article: Decapod anatomy

As the name Decapoda (from the Greek d??a, deca-, "ten", and p??? / p?d??, -pod, "foot") implies, all decapods have ten legs. These are in the form of five pairs of thoracic appendages on the last five thoracic segments. The front three pairs function as mouthparts and are generally referred to as maxillipeds; the remainder are pereiopods. In many decapods, however, one pair of legs has enlarged pincers; the claws are called chelae, so those legs may be called chelipeds. Further appendages are found on the abdomen, with each segment capable of carrying a pair of biramous pleopods, the last of which form part of the tail fan (together with the telson) and are called uropods.

Classification

[ Back to top ]

Classification within the order Decapoda depends on the structure of the gills and legs, and the way in which the larvae develop, giving rise to two suborders: Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata. Dendrobranchiata consists of prawns, including many species colloquially referred to as "shrimp", such as the "white shrimp", Litopenaeus setiferus. Pleocyemata includes the remaining groups, including true shrimp. Those groups which usually walk rather than swim (Pleocyemata, excluding Stenopodidea and Caridea) form a clade called Reptantia.[3]

The following classification to the level of superfamilies follows De Grave et al.[1]

Whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei (Dendrobranchiata: Penaeoidea)
Heterocarpus ensifer (Caridea: Pandaloidea)
Austropotamobius pallipes (Astacidea: Astacoidea)
Upogebia deltaura (Gebiidea: Upogebiidae)
California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus (Achelata: Palinuridae)
Polycheles sculptus (Polychelida: Polychelidae)
Australian land hermit crab, Coenobita variabilis (Anomura: Paguroidea)
Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus (Brachyura: Portunoidea)

Order Decapoda Latreille, 1802

See also

[ Back to top ]
pereiopods. In many decapods, however, one pair of legs has enlarged pincers; the claws are called chelae, so those legs may be called chelipeds. Further appendages are found on the abdomen, with each segment capable of carrying a pair of biramous pleopods, the last of which form part of the tail fan (together with the telson) and are called uropods.

Classification

[ Back to top ]

Classification within the order Decapoda depends on the structure of the gills and legs, and the way in which the larvae develop, giving rise to two suborders: Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata. Dendrobranchiata consists of prawns, including many species colloquially referred to as "shrimp", such as the "white shrimp", Litopenaeus setiferus. Pleocyemata includes the remaining gr oups, including true shrimp. Those groups which usually walk rather than swim (Pleocyemata, excluding Stenopodidea and Caridea) form a clade called Reptantia.[3]

The following classification to the level of superfamilies follows De Grave et al.[1]

Whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei (Dendrobranchiata: Penaeoidea)
Heterocarpus ensifer (Caridea: Pandaloidea)
Austropotamobius pallipes (Astacidea: Astacoidea)
Upogebia deltaura (Gebiidea: Upogebiidae)
California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus (Achelata: Palinuridae)
Polycheles sculptus (Polychelida: Polychelidae)
Australian land hermit crab, Coenobita variabilis (Anomura: Paguroidea)
Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus (Brachyura: Portunoidea)

Order Decapoda Latreille, 1802

See also

[ Back to top ]

References

[ Back to top ]
  1. ^ a b c Sammy De Grave, N. Dean Pentcheff, Shane T. Ahyong et al. (2009). "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Suppl. 21: 1?109. http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf. 
  2. ^ Robert P. D. Crean (November 14, 2004). "Order Decapoda: Fossil record and evolution". University of Bristol. http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Fossilgroups/Decapoda/Fossilrecord.html. Retrieved January 2, 2010. 
  3. ^ G. Scholtz & S. Richter (1995). "Phylogenetic systematics of the reptantian Decapoda (Crustacea, Malacostraca)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 113 (3): 289?328. doi:10.1006/zjls.1995.0011. 

External links

[ Back to top ]

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

The Order Decapoda is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

[ Back to top ]

Aeglidae

[more]

Aethridae

Aethridae is a family of crabs in its own superfamily, Aethroidea. It contains the following genera (extinct genera marked ?): [more]

Albuneidae

Albuneidae is a little-known family of specialized burrowing sand crabs. There are 50 extant species as well as nine fossil species that have been described. Fossil specimens have been described from the Cretaceous, Miocene and Oligocene. [more]

Alpheidae

Alpheidae is a family of caridean snapping shrimp characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names of these species include pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp. [more]

Alvinocarididae

Alvinocarididae is a family of shrimp, originally described by M. L. Christoffersen in 1986 from samples collected by DSV Alvin, from which they derive their name. Shrimp of the family Alvinocarididae generally inhabit deep sea hydrothermal vent regions, and hydrocarbon cold seep environments. Carotenoid pigment has been found in their bodies. The family Alvinocarididae comprises 7 extant genera. [more]

Anchistioididae

[more]

Aristeidae

[more]

Astacidae

The family Astacidae comprises the freshwater crayfish native to Europe and western North America. It is made up of three genera. Pacifastacus is found on the Pacific coast of the United States and British Columbia and includes the signal crayfish and the Shasta crayfish. The genera Astacus and Austropotamobius are both found throughout Europe and parts of western Asia. [more]

Atelecyclidae

Atelecyclidae is a family of crabs belonging to the Cancroidea superfamily, and currently containing eight genera two of which are extinct. However, the genera other than do not belong in the Cancroidea, and are to be removed from the family. [more]

Atyidae

Atyidae is a family of shrimp, present in all tropical and most temperate waters of the world. Adults of this family are almost always confined to fresh water. This is the only family in the superfamily Atyoidea. [more]

Axianassidae

[more]

Axiidae

Axiidae is a family of thalassinidean crustaceans. It includes the following genera : [more]

Bathypalaemonellidae

[more]

Belliidae

[more]

Benthesicymidae

[more]

Bresiliidae

[more]

Bythograeidae

[more]

Calappidae

Calappidae is a family of crabs containing 16 genera, of which 7 are only known as fossils: [more]

Callianassidae

Callianassidae is a family of ghost shrimp of the order Decapoda. It is divided into 13 subfamilies and 42 genera: [more]

Callianideidae

[more]

Calocarididae

[more]

Cambaridae

Cambaridae is the largest of the three families of freshwater crayfish, with over 400 species. Most of the species in the family are native to North America east of the Great Divide, such as the invasive species Procambarus clarkii and Orconectes rusticus, with fewer species living in East Asia and Japan, such as zarigani (Cambaroides japonicus). [more]

Campylonotidae

[more]

Cancridae

Cancridae is a family of crabs. It comprises six extant genera, and eleven exclusively fossil genera, in two subfamilies: [more]

Carpiliidae

Carpilioidea is a superfamily of crabs containing a single extant family, Carpiliidae and three extinct families. The modern range of the family includes the Indo-Pacific, Western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. The fossil record of the group extends back at least as far as the Paleocene. [more]

Cheiragonidae

Cheiragonidae is a small family of crabs, sometimes called helmet crabs, placed in its own superfamily, Cheriagonoidea. It comprises three extant species, Erimacrus isenbeckii, and Telmessus cheiragonus, and 13 extinct species in the three genera Karasawaia, Montezumella and Stintonius. Many of these crabs were formerly treated as members of the Atelecyclidae. The family's fossil record extends back at least as far as the Eocene. [more]

Chirostylidae

Squat lobsters are decapod crustaceans of the families Galatheidae, Chirostylidae and Kiwaidae, including the common genera Galathea and Munida. They are not lobsters at all, but are more closely related to porcelain crabs, hermit crabs and then, more distantly, true crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents. There are currently 870 described species. [more]

Coenobitidae

Coenobitidae are a family of hermit crabs, widely known for their terrestrial habits. There are 17 species in two genera: [more]

Corystidae

Corystidae is a family of crabs, in its own superfamily, Corystoidea. It includes the oldest Eubrachyuran fossil, , dating from the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic). Corystidae contains ten extant and five extinct species in eight genera: [more]

Crangonidae

The family Crangonidae is a taxon of shrimps, of the superfamily Crangonoidea, including the commercially important species Crangon crangon. Its type genus is Crangon. Twenty-four genera are included in the family: [more]

Cryptochiridae

Cryptochiridae is a family of crabs, known as gall crabs, because the females cause corals to form protective galls around themselves. The family is placed in its own superfamily, Cryptochiroidea. It contains the following genera: [more]

Ctenochelidae

[more]

Cyclodorippidae

[more]

Cymonomidae

[more]

Dairidae

Dairoidea is a superfamily of crabs, comprising two families which each contain a single genus: Dairidae (the living fossil  ) and Dacryopilumnidae (Dacryopilumnus) . [more]

Daldorfiidae

[more]

Deckeniidae

Potamonautidae is a family of freshwater crabs endemic to tropical parts of Africa and adjacent islands, including Madagascar, the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Mafia, Pemba, Bioko, S?o Tom?, Pr?ncipe 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. [more]

Diogenidae

Diogenidae is a family of hermit crabs, sometimes known as "left-handed hermit crabs" because in contrast to most other hermit crabs, it is the left chela (claw) that is enlarged instead of the right. It comprises 429 extant species, and a further 46 extinct species, making it the second largest family of marine hermit crabs, after Paguridae. [more]

Disciadidae

[more]

Dorippidae

[more]

Dromiidae

Dromiidae is a family of crabs, often referred to as sponge crabs. They are small or medium-sized crabs which get their name from the ability to shape a living sponge into a portable shelter for themselves. A sponge crab cuts out a fragment from a sponge and trims it to its own shape using its claws. The last two pairs of legs are shorter than other legs and bend upward over the crab's carapace, to hold the sponge in place. The sponge grows along with the crab, providing a consistent shelter. [more]

Dynomenidae

[more]

Enoplometopidae

Reef lobsters, Enoplometopus, are a genus of small lobsters that live on reefs in the Indo-Pacific, Caribbean and warmer parts of the east Atlantic Ocean. [more]

Epialtidae

Epialtidae is a family of crabs, containing the subfamilies: [more]

Eriphiidae

[more]

Erymidae

[more]

Eryonidae

[more]

Eugonatonotidae

[more]

Eumedonidae

[more]

Galatheidae

Squat lobsters are decapod crustaceans of the families Galatheidae, Chirostylidae and Kiwaidae, including the common genera Galathea and Munida. They are not lobsters at all, but are more closely related to porcelain crabs, hermit crabs and then, more distantly, true crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents. There are currently 870 described species. [more]

Gecarcinidae

Gecarcinidae is a family of true crabs that are adapted for terrestrial existence, commonly known as land crabs. Similar to all other crabs, land crabs possess a series of gills. In addition, the part of the carapace covering the gills is inflated and equipped with blood vessels. These organs extract oxygen from the air, analogous to the vertebrate lungs. Adult land crabs are terrestrial, but visit the sea periodically, where they breed and their larvae develop. Land crabs are tropical omnivores which sometimes cause considerable damage to crops. Most land crabs have one of their claws larger than the other. [more]

Gecarcinucidae

Gecarcinucidae is a family of freshwater crabs. Some scientists also include the genera placed in the family Parathelphusidae in a larger Gecarcinucidae. [more]

Geryonidae

[more]

Glypheidae

The Glypheoidea (containing the glypheoid lobsters), is a group of lobster-like decapod crustaceans which forms an important part of fossil faunas, such as the Solnhofen limestone. These fossils included taxa such as Glyphea (from which the group takes its name), and Mecochirus, mostly with elongated (often semichelate) chelipeds. This group of decapods is a good example of a living fossil, or a lazarus taxon, since until their discovery in the 1970s, the group was considered to have become extinct in the Eocene. The superfamily Glypheoidea comprises five families. The two extant species, Neoglyphea inopinata and Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica, are both in the Glypheidae. [more]

Glyphocrangonidae

[more]

Glyptograpsidae

[more]

Gnathophyllidae

Gnathophyllidae is a pantropical and subtropical family of shrimp in the superfamily Palaemonoidea. They are often associated with echinoderms. [more]

Goneplacidae

Goneplacidae is a family of crabs of the order Decapoda and the superfamily Goneplacoidea. It includes the following genera: [more]

Grapsidae

Grapsidae is a family of crabs known variously as marsh crabs, shore crabs or talon crabs. It is not confirmed that the family forms a monophyletic group and some taxa may belong in other families. They are found along the shore among rocks, in estuaries, marshes, and in some cases pelagic among drifting seaweeds and flotsam. [more]

Hapalocarcinidae

[more]

Hepatidae

[more]

Hexapodidae

[more]

Hippidae

Hippidae is a family of decapod crustaceans, commonly known as "mole crabs" or "sand crabs". They are closely related to the family Albuneidae, with which they are usually joined in the superfamily Hippoidea. The family Hippidae comprises the three genera Emerita, Hippa and . They burrow into sand, and are found throughout the world, except the Arctic and Antarctic. [more]

Hippolytidae

Hippolytidae is a family of cleaner shrimp, also known as broken-back shrimp or anemone shrimp. The term "broken-back shrimp" also applies to the genus Hippolyte in particular and "cleaner shrimp" is sometimes applied exclusively to Lysmata amboinensis. [more]

Homolidae

The family Homolidae, known as carrier crabs or porter crabs, contains 14 genera of marine crabs. They mostly live on the continental slope and continental shelf, and are rarely encountered. Members of the Homolidae have their fifth pereiopods (last pair of walking legs) in a sub-dorsal position, which allows them to hold objects in place over the rear half of the carapace. The objects carried include sponges, black corals and gorgonians, and this is behaviour may be a defence mechanism against predators. Some species have been observed carrying living sea urchins in a symbiotic relationship which allows them to benefit from the protection of the urchin's dangerous spikes. [more]

Homolodromiidae

Homolodromiidae is a family of crabs, the only family in the superfamily Homolodromioidea. In contrast to other crabs, including the closely related Homolidae, there is no strong linea homolica along which the exoskeleton breaks open during ecdysis. The family comprises two genera, , which has 18 species, and Homolodromia, with five species. [more]

Hymenoceridae

[more]

Hymenosomatidae

Hymenosomatidae is a family of crabs with some 110 described species in nearly 20 genera. The following genera are placed in the Hymenosomatidae: [more]

Inachidae

Inachidae is a family of crabs, containing 39 genera: [more]

Inachoididae

[more]

Isolapotamidae

[more]

Kiwaidae

[more]

Laomediidae

[more]

Latreilliidae

Latreilliidae is a small family of crabs. They are relatively small, long-legged crabs found on soft bottoms at depths of up 700 metres (2,300 ft) in mostly tropical and subtemperate waters around the world. The family and its type genus are named after Pierre Andr? Latreille. It comprises seven extant species: [more]

Leucosiidae

Leucosiidae is a family of crabs containing three subfamilies and a number of genera incertae sedis: [more]

Lithodidae

King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus. [more]

Lomisidae

[more]

Luciferidae

Lucifer is a little-known and degenerate genus of prawns, the only genus in the family Luciferidae. Lucifer has a long body, but many fewer appendages than other prawns, with only three pairs of pereiopods remaining, all without claws. It also bears no gills. The females, uniquely among prawns, carry the fertilised eggs on her pleopods until they are ready to hatch. This parallels the development of a similar system in pleocyemates, although the attachment is less strong in Lucifer. The length of the eye-stalks and the form of the are used in distinguishing the eight species from each other. Seven species are recognised: [more]

Maiidae

[more]

Majidae

Majidae is a family of crabs, comprising around 200 marine species 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. [more]

Matutidae

[more]

Mecochiridae

[more]

Menippidae

Menippidae is a family of crabs of the order Decapoda. [more]

Micheleidae

[more]

Mictyridae

[more]

Mithracidae

[more]

Necrocarcinidae

[more]

Nematocarcinidae

[more]

Nephropidae

Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate. [more]

Ocypodidae

Ocypodidae is a family of crabs that includes the ghost crabs and fiddler crabs. Other genera previously included in the family are now treated as members of separate families in the superfamily Ocypodoidea, such as Ucididae, Dotillidae and Macrophthalmidae. [more]

Ogyrididae

[more]

Oplophoridae

The family Oplophoridae is a taxon of pelagic shrimps and the only subtaxon of the superfamily Oplophoroidea. It contains the following genera: [more]

Oregoniidae

Oregoniidae is a family of crabs, formerly included in the family Majidae. It contains the four genera Chionoecetes, Hyas, and Oregonia. [more]

Paguridae

Paguridae is a family of hermit crabs of the order Decapoda. It contains 542 species in over 70 genera: [more]

Palaemonidae

Palaemonidae is a family of crustaceans of the order Decapoda. They belong to the infraorder Caridea, which contains the true shrimp; while some freshwater palaemonid species are known as "prawns", the family belongs to the suborder Pleocyemata like all true shrimp, whereas the true prawns are members of the suborder Dendrobranchiata. [more]

Palicidae

The family Palicidae, sometimes called stilt crabs, are a group of crabs. Some genera previously included in this family are now placed in a separate family, the . [more]

Palinuridae

Spiny lobsters, also known as langouste or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, sometimes called crayfish, sea crayfish or crawfish, terms which elsewhere are reserved for freshwater crayfish. [more]

Pandalidae

The family Pandalidae is a taxon of Caridean shrimp. These species are commonly called pandalid shrimps. They are edible and have high economic value. They are characterized by the subdivided carpus of the second pereiopod and, mainly, by the lack of the chelae of the first pereiopod. This is a cold-water family, and their representation in tropical areas is made by deep-sea shrimps. The genus Physetocaris, sometimes placed in this family, is now considered to be in its own family. [more]

Panopeidae

Panopeidae is a family of crabs, containing the following subfamilies and genera: [more]

Parapaguridae

Parapaguridae is a family of terrestrial hermit crabs. They have gill chambers that function as lungs. Some genera, such as and Tylaspis, do not inhabit shells. The following genera are included: [more]

Parastacidae

Parastacidae is the family of freshwater crayfish found in the southern hemisphere. The family is a classic Gondwana-distributed taxon, with extant members in South America, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea, and extinct taxa also in Antarctica. [more]

Parathelphusidae

[more]

Parthenopidae

Parthenopidae is a family of crabs, placed in its own superfamily, Parthenopoidea. It comprises nearly 40 genera, divided into two subfamilies, with three genera incertae sedis: [more]

Pasiphaeidae

Pasiphaeidae is a family of shrimps. It is the only family in the superfamily Pasiphaeoidea and contains seven extant genera: [more]

Pemphicidae

[more]

Penaeidae

Penaeidae is a family of prawns, although they are often referred to as penaeid shrimp. It contains many species of economic importance, such as the tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), whiteleg shrimp, Atlantic white shrimp and Indian prawn. Many prawns are the subject of commercial fishery, and farming, both in marine settings, and in freshwater farms. Lateral line-like sense organs on the antennae have been reported in some species of Penaeidae. At 210 metres per second (760 km/h), the myelinated giant interneurons of pelagic penaeid shrimp have the world record for impulse conduction speed in any animal. [more]

Physetocarididae

[more]

Pilumnidae

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 Cretaceous genus is believed to belong to the Pilumnidae; apart from Titanocarcinus, the earliest fossils assigned to this group are of Eocene age. [more]

Pinnotheridae

Pinnotheridae is a family of pea crabs. Pea crabs are tiny soft-bodied crabs that live commensally in the mantles of certain bivalve molluscs (and the occasional large gastropod mollusc species in genera such as Strombus and Haliotis). The earliest fossils attributable to the Pinnotheridae date from the Danian. [more]

Pirimelidae

[more]

Pisidae

[more]

Plagusiidae

Plagusiidae is a family of crabs. It was formerly treated as a subfamily of the family Grapsidae, but has since been considered sufficiently distinct to be a family in its own right. [more]

Platythelphusidae

Platythelphusa is a genus of freshwater crabs endemic to Lake Tanganyika. It has been placed in a number of families, including a monotypic family, Platythelphusidae, as well as Potamidae and its current position in the Potamonautidae, and has also been treated as a subgenus of Potamonautes. It forms a monophyletic group, possibly nested within the genus Potamonautes, which would therefore be paraphyletic. The genus is the only evolutionary radiation of crabs to have occurred in a freshwater lake, and it occurred recently, probably since the Pliocene. This parallels the better known radiation of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika. Only one other species of freshwater crab is found in Lake Tanganyika, Potamonautes platynotus. [more]

Platyxanthidae

[more]

Polychelidae

The family Polychelidae contains thirty-eight extant species of blind, benthic lobster-like crustaceans. They are found throughout the world's tropical, sub-tropical and temperate oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Irish Sea. [more]

Pomatochelidae

[more]

Porcellanidae

Porcelain crabs are decapod crustaceans in the widespread family Porcellanidae, which superficially resemble true crabs. They are typically less than 15 mm (0.6 in) wide, and have flattened bodies as an adaptation for living in rock crevices. They are delicate, readily losing limbs when attacked, and use their large claws for maintaining territories. [more]

Portunidae

Portunidae is a family of crabs which contains the swimming crabs. [more]

Potamidae

Potamidae is a family of freshwater crabs. Its more than 650 species and nearly 100 genera are divided into two subfamilies ? Potaminae around the Mediterranean Sea, on Socotra and eastwards to Northern India, and Potamiscinae in East Asia. [more]

Potamocarcinidae

[more]

Potamonautidae

Potamonautidae is a family of freshwater crabs endemic to tropical parts of Africa and adjacent islands, including Madagascar, the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Mafia, Pemba, Bioko, S?o Tom?, Pr?ncipe 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. [more]

Procarididae

Procarididea is an infraorder of decapods, comprising only eleven species. Six of these are in the genera Procaris and , which together make up the family Procarididae. The remaining five species are only known from fossils and belong to the genus Udora, which cannot yet be assigned to any family. Use of molecular phylogenetics suggests that the procarids are the sister group to the Caridea, and are thus recognised as a separate infraorder, Procarididea. [more]

Processidae

Processidae is a family of shrimp, comprising 65 species in 5 genera, and the only family in the superfamily Processoidea. They are small, nocturnal animals, mostly living in shallow seas, particularly on grass flats. The first pereiopods are usually asymmetrical, with a claw on one, but not the other ( forming the exception to this rule). The rostrum is generally a simple projection from the front of the carapace, with two teeth, one at the tip, and one further back. [more]

Prosopidae

[more]

Psalidopodidae

Psalidopus is a genus of shrimp placed in its own family, Psalidopodidae, and superfamily, Psalidopodoidea. It comprises three species, one in the western Atlantic Ocean, and two in the Indo-Pacific. [more]

Pseudorhombilidae

[more]

Pseudothelphusidae

[more]

Pseudoziidae

[more]

Pylochelidae

Pylochelidae is a family of hermit crabs. Its members are commonly called the symmetrical hermit crabs. They live in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic and the Antarctic, at depths of up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Due to their cryptic nature and relative scarcity, only around 60 specimens had been collected before 1987, when a monograph was published detailing a further 400. [more]

Raninidae

Raninidae is a family of unusual crabs named for their frog-like appearance, taken by most scientists to be quite primitive. These animals closely resemble the (unrelated) mole crabs, due to parallel evolution or convergent evolution. In both groups, the claws are modified into tools for digging, and the body is a rounded shape that is easy to bury in sand. Unlike most other true crabs, the abdomens of raninids are not curled under the cephalothorax. [more]

Retroplumidae

[more]

Rhynchocinetidae

The family Rhynchocinetidae are a group of small, reclusive red-and-white shrimp. This family typically has an upward-hinged foldable rostrum, hence its taxon name Rhynchocinetidae, which means movable beak. The family contains only two genera, and Rhynchocinetes. [more]

Scyllaridae

Slipper lobsters are a family of decapod crustaceans found in all warm oceans and seas. Despite their name, they are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lobsters. Slipper lobsters are instantly recognisable by their enlarged antennae, which project forward from the head as wide plates. All the species are edible, and some, such as the Moreton Bay bug and the "Balmain bug" (Ibacus peronii) are of commercial importance. [more]

Sergestidae

Sergestidae is a family of prawns which have lived since at least the Albian age (Cretaceous). It contains the following genera: [more]

Sesarmidae

Sesarmidae is a family of crabs, previously included in the Grapsidae by many authors. Several species, namely in Geosesarma, Metopaulias and Sesarma, are true terrestrial crabs. They do not need to return to the sea even for breeding. [more]

Sicyoniidae

Sicyonia is a genus of prawns, placed in its own family, Sicyoniidae. It differs from other prawns in that the last three pairs of its pleopods are uniramous, rather than biramous as seen in all other prawns. [more]

Sinopotamidae

[more]

Solenoceridae

[more]

Spongicolidae

The Stenopodidea is a small group of decapod crustaceans. Often confused with shrimp or prawns, they are neither, but belong in a group closer to the reptant decapods, such as lobsters and crabs. They may be easily recognised by their third pereiopod (walking leg), which is greatly enlarged. In the lobsters and crabs, it is the first pereiopod that is much bigger than the others. There are 71 extant species currently recognised, divided into 12 genera. Two fossil species are also recognised, each belonging to a separate genus. The earliest fossil assigned to the Stenopodidea is Jilinicaris chinensis from the Late Cretaceous. [more]

Stenopodidae

The Stenopodidea is a small group of decapod crustaceans. Often confused with shrimp or prawns, they are neither, but belong in a group closer to the reptant decapods, such as lobsters and crabs. They may be easily recognised by their third pereiopod (walking leg), which is greatly enlarged. In the lobsters and crabs, it is the first pereiopod that is much bigger than the others. There are 71 extant species currently recognised, divided into 12 genera. Two fossil species are also recognised, each belonging to a separate genus. The earliest fossil assigned to the Stenopodidea is Jilinicaris chinensis from the Late Cretaceous. [more]

Strahlaxiidae

[more]

Stylodactylidae

The family Stylodactylidae is a group of shrimps and the only representative of its superfamily (Stylodactyloidea). It contains the five genera , Neostylodactylus, Parastylodactylus, Stylodactyloides and Stylodactylus. [more]

Sundathelphusidae

[more]

Symethidae

[more]

Synaxidae

Furry lobsters (sometimes called coral lobsters) are small decapod crustaceans, closely related to the slipper lobsters and spiny lobsters. The antennae are not as enlarged as in spiny and slipper lobsters, and the body is covered in short hairs, hence the name furry lobster. Although previously considered a family in their own right (Synaxidae Bate, 1881), the furry lobsters were subsumed into the family Palinuridae in 1990, and molecular phylogenies support the inclusion of the furry lobsters in the family Palinuridae. There are two genera, with three species between them: [more]

Thalassinidae

Thalassina anomala is a species of mud lobster found in the mangrove swamps of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Its nocturnal burrowing is important for the recycling of nutrients in the mangrove ecosystem, although it is sometimes considered a pest of fish and prawn farms. [more]

Thalassocarididae

[more]

Thaumastochelidae

The family Thaumastochelidae contains five known species of deep-sea lobsters, three in the genus Thaumastocheles, and two in the genus Thaumastochelopsis. The fifth species was discovered in the ten?year Census of Marine Life. These creatures are distinguished from other clawed lobsters by their blindness (an adaptation to deep-sea life), and by their single elongated, spiny chela. The five species are as follows: [more]

Thiidae

[more]

Thomassiniidae

[more]

Trichodactylidae

[more]

Tumidocarcinidae

[more]

Tychidae

[more]

Tymolidae

[more]

Upogebiidae

Upogebiidae is a family of mud shrimp in the order Decapoda. [more]

Varunidae

Varunidae is a family of thoracotrematan crabs. The delimitation of this family, part of the taxonomically confusing Grapsoidea, is undergoing revision. For a long time, they were placed at the rank of subfamily in the Grapsidae, but they appear to be closest to and the Mictyridae, which are usually placed in the Ocypodoidea. It may thus be better to merge the latter superfamily with the Grapsoidea, retaining the latter name as it is older. [more]

Xanthidae

Xanthidae is a family of crabs known as mud crabs, pebble crabs or rubble crabs. They are often brightly colored and are poisonous, containing toxins which are not destroyed by cooking and for which no antidote is known. The toxins are similar to the tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin produced by puffer fish, and may be produced by bacteria in the genus Vibrio living in symbiosis with the crabs, mostly V. alginolyticus and V. parahaemolyticus. [more]

At least 283 species and subspecies belong to the Family Xanthidae.

More info about the Family Xanthidae may be found here.

References

[ Back to top ]
  1. ^ a b c Sammy De Grave, N. Dean Pentcheff, Shane T. Ahyong et al. (2009). "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Suppl. 21: 1?109. http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf. 
  2. ^ Robert P. D. Crean (November 14, 2004). "Order Decapoda: Fossil record and evolution". University of Bristol. http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Fossilgroups/Decapoda/Fossilrecord.html. Retrieved January 2, 2010. 
  3. ^ G. Scholtz & S. Richter (1995). "Phylogenetic systematics of the reptantian Decapoda (Crustacea, Malacostraca)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 113 (3): 289?328. doi:10.1006/zjls.1995.0011. 

Sources

[ Back to top ]
Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:10:36