Overview
Photos
Taxonomy
The Superfamily Galatheoidea is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Family (5): Aeglidae · Chirostylidae · Galatheidae · Kiwaidae · Porcellanidae
Families
Aeglidae
Chirostylidae
Squat lobsters are crustaceans of the families Galatheidae and Chirostylidae, 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 live near deep sea vents in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. There are currently 870 described species. [more]
Galatheidae
Squat lobsters are crustaceans of the families Galatheidae and Chirostylidae, 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 live near deep sea vents in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. There are currently 870 described species. [more]
Kiwaidae
Porcellanidae
Porcelain crabs are crustaceans in the family Porcellanidae, which superficially resemble true crabs. They are a good example of carcinisation, whereby a non-crab-like animal (in this case a relative of a squat lobster) evolves into an animal that only a specialist would know is not a true crab. They live in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic. [more]
At least 24 species and subspecies belong to the Family Porcellanidae.
More info about the Family Porcellanidae may be found here.
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