Majidae

Seaweed crab Paramithrax peroni, from McLintock 1966.

Belongs within: Heterotremata.
Contains: Leptomithrax.

The Majidae, spider crabs, are a group of crabs with highly mobile chelipeds that may commonly be used to attach algae and debris to themselves for camouflage.

Characters (from Bennett 1964): Chelipeds especially mobile, rarely much greater than other legs or with fingers bent at angle on hand. Second joint of antenna well developed, generally fused with epistome and often with front. Orbits generally more or less incomplete. Hooked hairs almost always present. Male apertures coxal. Palp of external maxillipeds articulated wither at summit or at antero-internal angle of merus.

<==Majidae [Periceridae, Periceroida]
    |--Ophthalmiinae [Stenocionopoida] B64
    |--Macrocoelominae B64
    |--Micippoides [Hyasteniinae] B64
    |    `--M. angustifrons B64
    |--Acanthonychinae B64
    |    |--Simocarcinus B64
    |    `--Acanthonyx TF08
    |         |--A. lunulatus (Risso 1816) KK03
    |         `--A. scutiformis (Dana 1851) TF08
    |--Mithracinae [Mithracidae] TSH09
    |    |--Micippa TSH09
    |    |    |--M. cristata (Linnaeus 1758) TSH09
    |    |    `--M. thalia (Herbst 1803) KK03
    |    |--Paramicippa spinosa B64
    |    |--Jacquinotia Rathbun 1915 [incl. Prionorhynchus Jacq. in Jacq. & Lucas 1853 (preoc.)] B64
    |    |    `--*J. edwardsi (Jacquinot 1853) [=Prionorhynchus edwardsi; incl. Paramicippa grandis Hector 1899] B64
    |    |--Tiarinia TSH09
    |    |    |--T. angusta Dana 1852 TSH09
    |    |    `--T. cornigera (Latreille 1825) TSH09
    |    `--Mithrax Latreille 1817 GT01
    |         `--M. (Mithraculus) B55
    |              |--M. (M.) forceps (Milne-Edwards 1875) [=Mithraculus forceps] B55
    |              `--M. (M.) sculptus (Lamarck 1818) [=Maia sculpta] B55
    `--Majinae [Mioida, Mamaiidae] TSH09
         |--Cyclax suborbicularis (Stimpson 1858) TSH09
         |--Schizophrys aspera (Milne Edwards 1834) TSH09
         |--Pseudomicippe TSH09
         |--Maiopsis B64
         |--Campbellia Balss 1930 B64
         |    `--*C. kohli Balss 1930 B64
         |--Gonatorhynchus Haswell 1880 [incl. Lobophrys Filhol 1886] B64
         |    |--*G. tumidus B64
         |    `--G. barbicornis (Latreille 1828) (see below for synonymy) B64
         |--Entomonyx Miers 1884 MG-H11, B64
         |    |--E. depressus Sakai 1974 MG-H11
         |    `--E. spinosus Miers 1884 MG-H11 [=Acanthophrys spinosus B64; incl. Macrocoeloma nummifer Alcock 1895 B64]
         |--Maja MG-H11
         |    |--M. confragosa Griffin & Tranter 1986 MG-H11
         |    |--M. crispata Risso 1827 KK03
         |    |--M. gibba Alcock 1895 MG-H11
         |    |--M. goltziana D’Oliveira 1888 KK03
         |    |--M. squinado (Herbst 1788) DAS03
         |    `--M. suluensis Rathbun 1916 MG-H11
         |--Acanthophrys Milne Edwards 1865 [incl. Chlorinoides Haswell 1879] B64
         |    |--*A. cristimanus B64
         |    |--A. filholi Milne Edwards 1865 B64
         |    |--A. goldsboroughi Rathbun 1906 B64
         |    |--A. spatulifer (Haswell 1882) [=Paramithrax spatulifer, Chlorinoides spatulifer] B64
         |    `--A. tenuirostris [=*Chlorinoides tenuirostris] B64
         |--Paramithrax Milne Edwards 1834 B64
         |    |--*P. peroni Milne Edwards 1834 [=P. peronii] B64
         |    |--P. backstromi Balss 1923 B64
         |    |--P. minor Filhol 1886 [incl. P. parvus Borradaile 1916] B64
         |    |--P. parvispinosus Ward 1933 B64
         |    |--P. pipa (Herbst 1788) [=Cancer pipa, Maja pipa] B64
         |    |--P. spinosus Miers 1879 B64
         |    `--P. ursus (Herbst 1788) (see below for synonymy) B64
         `--Leptomithrax B64

Majidae incertae sedis:
  Hyas Leach 1814 GT01
    |--H. araneus Linnaeus 1758 DK89
    `--H. coarctatus Leach 1815 TF08
  Microphrys Milne-Edwards 1851 B55
    `--M. bicornutus (Latreille 1825) [=Pisa bicornuta] B55
  Planotergum mirabile Balss 1935 MG-H11
  Prismatopus MG-H11
    |--P. brevispinosus (Yokoya 1933) MG-H11
    `--P. occidentalis (Griffin 1970) MG-H11
  Naxia tumida B64
  Telophrys cristulipes B64

Gonatorhynchus barbicornis (Latreille 1828) [=Pisa barbicornis, *Lobophrys barbicornis, Paramithrax barbicornis] B64

Paramithrax ursus (Herbst 1788) [=Cancer (Mithrax) ursus, Inachus ursus, Maja ursus; incl. P. cristatus Filhol 1886, P. latreillei Miers 1876] B64

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B64] Bennett, E. W. 1964. The marine fauna of New Zealand: Crustacea Brachyura. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 153: 1–120.

[B55] Bott, R. 1955. Dekapoden (Crustacea) aus El Salvador. 2. Litorale Dekapoden, außer Uca. Senckenbergiana Biologica 36: 45–70.

[DK89] Deaton, L. E., & K. D. Kempler. 1989. Occurrence of the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa, on the book gills of a horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. Nautilus 103 (1): 42.

[GT01] Guinot, D., & M. Tavares. 2001. Une nouvelle famille de crabes du Crétacé, et la notion de Podotremata Guinot, 1977 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura). Zoosystema 23 (3): 507–546.

[KK03] Kocataş, A., & T. Katağan. 2003. The decapod crustacean fauna of the Turkish seas. Zoology in the Middle East 29: 63–74.

[MG-H11] McEnnulty, F. R., K. L. Gowlett-Holmes, A. Williams, F. Althaus, J. Fromont, G. C. B. Poore, T. D. O'Hara, L. Marsh, P. Kott, S. Slack-Smith, P. Alderslade & M. V. Kitahara. 2011. The deepwater megabenthic invertebrates on the western continental margin of Australia (100–1100 m depths): composition, distribution and novelty. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 80: 1–191.

[TF08] Teixeira, G. M., V. Fransozo, A. L. Castilho, R. C. da Costa & F. A. d. M. Freire. 2008. Size distribution and sex ration in the spider crab Epialtus brasiliensis (Dana 1852) associated with seaweed on a rocky shore in southeastern Brazil (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Majoidea, Epialtidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 88 (2): 169–175.

[TSH09] Titelius, M. A., A. Sampey & C. G. Hass. 2009. Crustaceans of Mermaid (Rowley Shoals), Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, north Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 77: 145–176.