Superfamily GALATHEOIDEA Samouelle, 1819

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Regional Maps

• Galatheoidea Samouelle, 1819.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Samouelle, G. 1819. The Entomologist's Useful Compendium; or an introduction to the knowledge of British Insects, comprising the best means of obtaining and preserving them, and a description of the apparatus generally used; together with the genera of Linné, and modern methods of arranging the Classes Crustacea, Myriapoda, spiders, mites and insects, from the affinities and structure, according to the views of Dr. Leach. Also an explanation of the terms used in entomology; a calendar of the times of appearance and usual situations of near 3,000 species of British Insects; with instructions for collecting and fitting up objects for the microscope. London : Thomas Boys 496 pp. 12 pls. [92]

Introduction

The Galatheoidea comprise four families, some crab-like and others more lobster-like. They share with all anomurans only four pairs of well-developed legs of which the first is a stronger cheliped. The fifth leg is weak and often hidden under the carapace. Galatheoids are symmetrical (unlike hermit crabs) and the uropods and telson form a broad tailfan at the end of the depressed pleon which folds up against itself or the thorax. Galatheoids differ from the other superfamily of marine squat lobsters, Chirostyloidea, in having a well-developed sternal plate between the last pereopods and a telson without a transverse suture. The relationships between galatheoid families and genera were reviewed by Ahyong et al. (2010) who introduced a new family, diagnosed all families and listed the genera. Their work was incorporated into a reappraisal of galatheoid relationships by Schnabel et al. (2011) using both morphological and molecular data.

Diagnosis

. Sternal plastron consisting of thoracic sternites 3–7, thoracic sternite 8 independent. Pleon symmetrical; pleonites separate, calcified and distinct. Ocular scales absent. Antennal peduncle articles 1 and 2 fused. Mandibular incisor margin entire. Pereopods 1 symmetrical, elongate, chelate. Pereopods 2–4 with claw-like dactyli. Pereopod 4 ambulatory, like 2 and 3. Uropods broad, part of tail-fan. Telson divided into median and paired plates.

Diagnosis References

Poore, G.C.B.,& Ahyong, S.T. 2023. Marine decapod Crustacea. A guide to families and genera of the World. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing pp. 928.

General References

Ahyong, S.T., Baba, K., Macpherson, E. & Poore, G.C.B. 2010. A new classification of the Galatheoidea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura). Zootaxa 2676: 57-68

Schnabel, K.E., Ahyong, S.T., & Maas, E.L. 2011. Galatheoidea are not monophyletic – molecular and morphological phylogeny of the squat lobsters (Decapoda: Anomura) with recognition of a new superfamily. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58: 157-168

History of changes