Majoidea

Updated on Dec 16, 2023

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Kingdom Animalia Infraorder Brachyura Subsection Heterotremata Phylum Arthropoda Rank Superfamily		Subphylum Crustacea Section Eubrachyura Scientific name Majoidea Higher classification Heterotremata Order Decapoda

Lower classifications Majidae, European spider crab, Snow crab, Stenorhynchus seticornis, Mithracidae

The Majoidea are a superfamily of crabs which includes the various spider crabs.

Taxonomy

It comprises five or six families:

Epialtidae

Hymenosomatidae – may not belong here

The families "Pisidae" and "Tychidae" are now treated as the subfamilies Pisinae and Tychinae of the family Epialtidae, and "Mithracidae" is now treated as the subfamily Mithracinae of the family Majidae.

Classification according to WoRMS :

family Epialtidae MacLeay, 1838

family Hymenosomatidae MacLeay, 1838

family Inachidae MacLeay, 1838

family Inachoididae Dana, 1851

family Majidae Samouelle, 1819 – "true" spider crabs

family Mithracidae Balss, 1929

family Oregoniidae Garth, 1958

family Pisidae Dana, 1851

Notable species within the superfamily include:

Majoidea Crab Database Crabs Superfamily Majoidea

Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), the largest living species of crab, found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Libinia emarginata, the portly spider crab, a species of crab found in estuarine habitats on the east coast of North America.

Hyas, a genus of spider crabs, including the great spider crab (Hyas araneus), found in the Atlantic and the North Sea.

Maja squinado, sometimes called the "European long leg crab or pie faced crab" because of the way its face is shaped.

Australian majid spider crab, found off Tasmania, are known to pile up on each other, the faster-moving crabs clambering over the smaller, slower ones.

There is one fossil family, Priscinachidae, represented by a single species, Priscinachus elongatus, from the Cenomanian of France.

References

Majoidea Wikipedia

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