Family CANCRIDAE Latreille, 1803

<em>Metacarcinus novaezelandiae</em> [from Dell 1963: p. 42]

Metacarcinus novaezelandiae [from Dell 1963: p. 42]

Museums

Museum list

Regional Maps

Family CANCRIDAE Latreille, 1803

Compiler and date details

May 2012 - Peter Davie, Queensland Museum, Brisbane

Cancerides Latreille, P.A. 1803. Histoire naturelle, Générale et Particulière, des Crustacés et des Insectes. Paris : F. Dufart Vol. 5 406 pp. [350] [corrected to Cancridae by MacLeay, W.S. 1838. On the Brachyurous Decapod Crustacea brought from the Cape by Dr Smith. pp. 53–71 pl. 3 in, Illustrations of the Annulosa of South Africa; being a portion of the objects of natural history collected during an expedition into the interior of South Africa, under the direction of Dr Andrew Smith, in the years 1834, 1835, and 1836; fitted out by "The Cape of Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa". London. 75 pp. 4 pls (59)].
Secondary source:
MacLeay, W.S. 1838. On the Brachyurous Decapod Crustacea brought from the Cape by Dr Smith. pp. 53–71 pl. 3 in, Illustrations of the Annulosa of South Africa; being a portion of the objects of natural history collected during an expedition into the interior of South Africa, under the direction of Dr Andrew Smith, in the years 1834, 1835, and 1836; fitted out by "The Cape of Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa". London. 75 pp. 4 pls.
Trichoceridae Dana, J.D. 1852. On the classification of the Corystoidea, Paguridea, etc. American Journal of Science and Arts 2 13: 119-124 [120].
Lobocarcinidae Beurlen, K. 1930. Vergleichende Stammesgeschichte Grundlagen, Methoden, Probleme unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der höheren Krebse. Fortschritte der Geologie und Palaeontologie 8: 540-546 [fossil representatives only].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Manning, R.B. & Holthuis, L.B. 1981. West African Brachyuran Crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology No. 306: i-xii, 1-379 figs 1-88, 2 appendices [69]
Schweitzer, C.E. & Feldmann, R.M. 2000. Re-evaluation of the Cancridae Latreille, 1802 (Decapoda: Brachyura) including three new genera and three new species. Contributions to Zoology 69(4): 223-250 [223, 243]

Introduction

The family Cancridae reaches its highest diversity in Northern Hemisphere temperate waters. Although Cancridae are known from several fossil genera in two subfamilies (Glaessner 1969), the modern fauna has been long considered to be represented by only Cancer Linnaeus (Nations 1975, 1979). Nations (1975) did however recognise a number of subgenera. The systematics of the Cancridae were recently reviewed by Schweitzer & Feldmann (2000), and these authors have elevated the older available generic and subgeneric names to full generic status, as well as describing three new genera for recent and fossil species. Only two species of cancrid occur in Australian waters. Metacarcinus novaezelandiae appears to have been introduced from New Zealand. Davie (1991) resurrected Platepistoma Rathbun to accommodate a number of deep water species from the Indo-Pacific, including a new species from seamounts off eastern Australia. Schweitzer & Feldmann (2000: 249-250) have provided a key to recent and fossil genera..

Diagnosis

Carapace broadly oval; anterolateral margins strongly convex, dentate; posterolateral margins short; front narrow, usually with teeth either side of median tooth which may be displaced ventrally; orbits small; antennules folding longitudinally or a little obliquely; basal antennal article longer than broad, flagellum short, more or less setose; epistome narrow. Third maxillipeds may overlap endostome. Chelipeds massive, subequal, similar in both sexes. Walking legs laterally compressed to more or less cylindrical; dactyli styliform. Male abdomen with third to fifth segments fused. Sternum relatively narrow; female genital openings sternal, male openings coxal. Male first gonopod stout, straight, tapered; second gonopod slender, and of similar length.