Varunidae
Encyclopedia
Varunidae is a family
of thoracotremata
n crab
s. 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 Macropthalmus 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.
That notwithstanding, the revision of the Grapsoidea (in the narrow but apparently still paraphyletic sense) is also not fully completed, as many taxa remain to be restudied. Already, several former Grapsidae genera
have been moved to the Varunidae, and others are tentatively placed here pending detailed study. Among the most noteworthy of these is the Chinese mitten crab
, Eriocheir sinensis. The genus Xenograpsus, formerly included in the Varunidae, is now placed in its own family, the Xenograpsidae.
The following genera are included:
Asthenognathinae Stimpson, 1858
Cyclograpsinae H. Milne-Edwards, 1853
Gaeticinae Davie & N. K. Ng, 2007
Thalassograpsinae Davie & N. K. Ng, 2007
Varuninae H. Milne-Edwards, 1853
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of thoracotremata
Thoracotremata
Thoracotremata is a clade of crabs, comprising those crabs in which the genital openings are on the sternum, rather than on the legs in both sexes. It comprises 17 families in four superfamilies .-Superfamilies and...
n crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s. The delimitation of this family, part of the taxonomically confusing Grapsoidea
Grapsoidea
Grapsoidea is a superfamily of crabs. These crabs are well known and contain many taxa which are terrestrial , semi-terrestrial or limnic...
, is undergoing revision. For a long time, they were placed at the rank of subfamily in the Grapsidae
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...
, but they appear to be closest to Macropthalmus and the Mictyridae, which are usually placed in the Ocypodoidea
Ocypodoidea
Ocypodoidea is a superfamily of crabs, named after the genus Ocypode. It contains over 300 extant species in the following eight families:* Camptandriidae Stimpson, 1858* Dotillidae Stimpson, 1858* Heloeciidae H. Milne-Edwards, 1852...
. It may thus be better to merge the latter superfamily with the Grapsoidea, retaining the latter name as it is older.
That notwithstanding, the revision of the Grapsoidea (in the narrow but apparently still paraphyletic sense) is also not fully completed, as many taxa remain to be restudied. Already, several former Grapsidae genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
have been moved to the Varunidae, and others are tentatively placed here pending detailed study. Among the most noteworthy of these is the Chinese mitten crab
Chinese mitten crab
The Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis is a medium-sized burrowing crab, named for its furry claws that look like mittens, that is native in the coastal estuaries of eastern Asia from Korea in the north to the Fujian province of China in the south...
, Eriocheir sinensis. The genus Xenograpsus, formerly included in the Varunidae, is now placed in its own family, the Xenograpsidae.
The following genera are included:
Asthenognathinae Stimpson, 1858
- Asthenognathus Stimpson, 1858
- Globihexapus † Schweitzer & Feldmann, 2001
Cyclograpsinae H. Milne-Edwards, 1853
- Austrohelice K. Sakai, Türkay & Yang, 2006
- Chasmagnathus De Haan, 1833
- Cyclograpsus H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
- Helicana K. Sakai & Yatsuzuka, 1980
- Helice De Haan, 1833
- Helograpsus Campbell & Griffin, 1966
- Metaplax H. Milne-Edwards, 1852
- Miosesarma † Karasawa, 1989
- Neohelice K. Sakai, Türkay & Yang, 2006
- Paragrapsus H. Milne-Edwards, 1853
- Parahelice K. Sakai, Türkay & Yang, 2006
- Pseudohelice K. Sakai, Türkay & Yang, 2006
Gaeticinae Davie & N. K. Ng, 2007
- Gaetice Gistel, 1848
- Gopkittisak Naruse & P. F. Clark, 2009
- Sestrostoma Davie & N. K. Ng, 2007
Thalassograpsinae Davie & N. K. Ng, 2007
- Thalassograpsus Tweedie, 1950
Varuninae H. Milne-Edwards, 1853
- Acmaeopleura Stimpson, 1858
- Brachynotus De Haan, 1833
- Cyrtograpsus Dana, 1851
- EriocheirEriocheirEriocheir is a genus of crabs, including the Chinese mitten crab, E. sinensis. Formerly in the family Grapsidae, it is now placed in the Varunidae....
De Haan, 1835 - Grapsodius Holmes, 1900
- HemigrapsusHemigrapsusHemigrapsus is a genus of varunid crabs.The genus is restricted to the Pacific Ocean, except for Hemigrapsus affinis which lives along the Atlantic coasts of South America, from Cape San Roque to the Gulf of San Matias, , and a population of Hemigrapsus sanguineus which has been introduced to New...
Dana, 1851 - Neoeriocheir T. Sakai, 1983
- Noarograpsus N. K. Ng, Manuel & Ng, 2006
- Orcovita Ng & Tomascik, 1994
- Otognathon Ng & Stevcic, 1993
- Parapyxidognathus Ward, 1941
- Platyeriocheir N. K. Ng, J. Guo & Ng, 1999
- Pseudogaetice Davie & N. K. Ng, 2007
- Pseudograpsus H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
- Ptychognathus Stimpson, 1858b
- Pyxidognathus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879
- Scutumara Ng & Nakasone, 1993
- Tetragrapsus Rathbun, 1918
- Utica White, 1847
- Varuna Milne-Edwards, 1830