Subfamily Ocypodinae Rafinesque, 1815

Ocypode ceratophthalma [from Ng 1998: 1153]

Museums

Regional Maps

• Ocypodidae Rafinesque, C.S. 1815. Analyse de la nature, ou tableau de l'univers et des corps organises. Palermo (Italy) : Privately Published 224 pp. [Date published April to July] [96] [as Ocypodia, corrected to Ocypodidae 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 (63), Name No. 375 on Official List of Family-group Names in Zoology, see International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1964. Opinion 712. Forty-seven genera of Decapod Crustacea: placed on the Official List. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 21: 336–351 [26 November 1964]].

  Type genus:

   Ocypode Weber, 1795.

  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; International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1964. Opinion 712. Forty-seven genera of Decapod Crustacea: placed on the Official List. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 21: 336-351 [26 November 1964].
• Ucainae Dana, J.D. 1851. On the classification of the Crustacea Grapsoidea. American Journal of Science and Arts 12: 283-290 [289] [subjective synonym].

  Type genus:

   Uca Leach, 1814.

  Secondary source:

   Shih, H.-T., Ng, P.K.L., Davie, P.J.F., Schubart, C.D., Türkay, M., Naderloo, R., Jones, D. & Liu, M.-Y. 2016. Systematics of the family Ocypodidae Rafinesque, 1815 (Crustacea: Brachyura), based on phylogenetic relationships, with a reorganization of subfamily rankings and a review of the taxonomic status of Uca Leach, 1814, sensu lato and its subgenera. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 64: 139–175 [Date published 21 July 2016] [145].

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 [192]

Diagnosis

Carapace deep, subquadrilateral to pentagonal; dorsal regions typically indistinct; anterolateral margins straight or slightly arched. Front narrow, deflexed, usually forming a lobe between eyestalks. Interantennular septum broad; antennules folding obliquely or almost vertically; antennular flagellum small or rudimentary. Third maxilliped completely closing buccal cavern; exopod visible, with or without flagellum. Chelipeds unequal in males, sometimes remarkably so, equal or unequal in females. Brush of long setae edging pouch leading into branchial cavity between bases of third and fourth pereiopods. Thoracic sternum broad posteriorly. Male genital openings sternal.

History of changes