Taxonomy

Animalia

Arthropoda

Malacostraca

Decapoda

Grapsoidea Varunidae Hemigrapsus

Half-grasper Varuna's Grapsus-like Ten-footed Soft-shelled Joint-footed Animals

The Grapsoidea are a superfamily of crabs; they are well known and contain many taxa which are terrestrial (land-living), semiterrestrial (taking to the sea only for reproduction), or limnic (living in fresh water). Another well-known member with a more conventional lifestyle is the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis.

The delimitation of the Grapsidae and Plagusiidae is in need of revision; the latter at least is not monophyletic. The same apparently holds true for several genera in the Sesarmidae. The closest living relatives of the Grapsoidea are the Ocypodoidea. In fact, they seem to be paraphyletic with respect to each other and it seems warranted to merge the Ocypodoidea into the Grapsoidea.

Grapsoidea. Retrieved November, 05 2021, from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapsoidea.


The Varunidae are a family of thoracotrematan crabs. The delimitation of this family, part of the taxonomically confusing Grapsoidea, is undergoing revision. For a long time, they were placed at the rank of subfamily in the Grapsidae, but they appear to be closest to Macropthalmus and the Mictyridae, which are usually placed in the Ocypodoidea. It may thus be better to merge the latter superfamily with the Grapsoidea, retaining the latter name as it is older. That notwithstanding, the revision of the Grapsoidea (in the narrow but apparently still paraphyletic sense) is also not fully completed, as many taxa remain to be restudied. Already, several former Grapsidae genera have been moved to the Varunidae, and others are tentatively placed here pending detailed study. Among the most noteworthy of these is the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis. The genus Xenograpsus, formerly included in the Varunidae, is now placed in its own family, the Xenograpsidae. The following genera are included:

Varunidae. Retrieved November, 05 2021, from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varunidae.