Subfamily Xanthinae MacLeay, 1838

Paraxanthias notatus [from Dana 1855]

Neoxanthops lineatus [from A. Milne Edwards 1873]

Museums

Regional Maps

• Xanthidae 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] [Name No. 73 on Official List of Family-group names in Zoology, see International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1956. Opinion 423. Additions to the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology of the generic name Xantho Leach, 1814 (Class Crustacea, Order Decapoda), and validation under the Plenary Powers of the family-group name Xanthinae Dana, 1851. Opinions and Declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 14: 197–214, but there authorship attributed erroneously to Dana, 1851].

  Type genus:

   Xantho Leach, 1814.

  Secondary source:

   International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1956. Opinion 423. Additions to the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology of the generic name Xantho Leach, 1814 (Class Crustacea, Order Decapoda), and validation under the Plenary Powers of the family-group name Xanthinae Dana, 1851. Opinions and Declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 14: 197-214.
• Xanthodioida Alcock, A. 1898. Materials for a Carcinological Fauna of India. No. 3. The Brachyura Cyclometopa. Part I. The Family Xanthidae. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 67(Pt 2 No. 1): 67-233 [78, 156].

Diagnosis

Carapace with dorsal surface smooth or granular; regions more or less strongly delineated, sometimes obscure. Anterolateral margins convex, confluent with exorbital angles, typically four or five anterolateral teeth or broad lobes, but sometimes some or all indistinct, or subdivided into as many as ten tuberculate teeth; distinctly separated from concave posterolateral margins. Front nearly straight or bilobed, generally with a median fissure and a lateral fissure separating supra-orbital angles. Antennules fold transversely. Basal article of antennae broad and short, internal angle touching front; antennal flagellum included in orbit. Chelipeds always very strong; subequal and similar, or unequal and dissimilar; surface smooth to granular to coarsely tuberculate, or occasionally spinous. Walking legs generally rounded in section; smooth or granular; sometimes carinate on margins of some articles. Sternum with fourth sternite very large, such that telson covers only proximal half.

History of changes