Matutidae Explained

Matutidae is a family of crabs, sometimes called moon crabs,[1] adapted for swimming or digging. They differ from the swimming crabs of the family Portunidae in that all five pairs of legs are flattened, rather than just the last pair, as in Portunidae. Crabs in the Matutidae are aggressive predators.[2]

Taxonomy

Traditionally, this taxon contained the single genus Matuta, and was considered a subfamily of the Calappidae.[2] Now, the group is ranked as a family and six genera (four extant and two fossil) are now recognised.[3] Although placed in the Calappoidea, it is not clear that Matutidae and Calappidae are closely related.[4]

Fossil record

Szaboa is known only from Hungarian fossil deposits of Middle Miocene age.[5] Eomatuta was described from the Middle Eocene of Italy in 2009.[6] Fossils of Ashtoret have also been found in Miocene deposits in Japan.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Moon crabs, Family Matutidae . October 2008 . . Ria Tan.
  2. Web site: Family MATUTIDAE De Haan, 1835 . . . October 9, 2009 . January 17, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110401223427/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/MATUTIDAE . April 1, 2011 . dead . mdy-all .
  3. . 2009 . Suppl. 21 . 1–109 . A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans . Sammy De Grave . N. Dean Pentcheff . Shane T. Ahyong . . etal . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110606064728/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf . 2011-06-06 .
  4. . 2008 . 17 . 1–286 . Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world . Peter K. L. Ng . Danièle Guinot . Peter J. F. Davie . amp . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110606061453/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s17/s17rbz.pdf . 2011-06-06 .
  5. . 29 . 2002 . 93–94 . First record of a Miocene matutid crab (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) from Japan . Hiroaki Karasawa . https://web.archive.org/web/20051220230845/http://www.city.mizunami.gifu.jp/sightseeing/mizunami/cultural_property/institution/Bull29/BMFM29-093-094(76kB).pdf . dead . 2005-12-20 .
  6. A. de Angeli . L. Marchiori . amp . 2009 . Eomatuta granosa n. gen., n. sp. (Decapoda, Brachyura, Matutidae), nuovo crostaceo dell'Eocene dei Monti Berici (Vicenza, Italia settentrionale) . Lavori Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali . 34 . 105–110 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722053948/http://www.svsn.it/joomla/volume-34/de-angeli-a.-marchiori-l.-2009.html . 2011-07-22 .

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