Grapsidae (original) (raw)

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Family of crabs

Grapsidae
Grapsus grapsus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Superfamily: Grapsoidea
Family: GrapsidaeMacleay, 1838 [1]
Genera
See text

The Grapsidae are a family of crabs known variously as marsh crabs, shore crabs, or talon crabs.[1] The family has not been confirmed to form a monophyletic group and some taxa may belong in other families.[2] They are found along the shore among rocks, in estuaries, marshes, and in some cases pelagic among drifting seaweeds and flotsam.

A number of taxa, formerly treated as subfamilies of the family Grapsidae are now considered families in their own right, including the Varunidae and Plagusiidae.[3] Forty species and ten genera remain in the family, two of the genera known only from fossils:[3]

  1. ^ a b "Grapsidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  2. ^ C. D. Schubart; S. Cannicci; M. Vannini; S. Fratini (2006). "Molecular phylogeny of grapsoid crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura) and allies based on two mitochondrial genes and a proposal for refraining from current superfamily classification" (PDF). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 44 (3): 193–199. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2006.00354.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19.
  3. ^ a b 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.