Cheiragonidae is a small
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...
s, sometimes called ''
helmet crab
''Corystes cassivelaunus'', the masked crab, helmet crab or sand crab, is a burrowing crab of the North Atlantic and North Sea from Portugal to Norway, which also occurs in the Mediterranean Sea. It may grow up to long (carapace length). The na ...
s'',
placed in its own
superfamily
SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...
, Cheriagonoidea.
It comprises three extant species, ''
Erimacrus isenbeckii'', ''
Telmessus acutidens
Telmessos or Telmessus ( Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭 ''Kuwalapašša'', Lycian: 𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆 ''Telebehi'', grc, Τελμησσός), also Telmissus ( grc, Τελμισσός), later Anastasiopolis ( grc, Αναστ� ...
'' and ''
Telmessus cheiragonus
Telmessos or Telmessus ( Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭 ''Kuwalapašša'', Lycian: 𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆 ''Telebehi'', grc, Τελμησσός), also Telmissus ( grc, Τελμισσός), later Anastasiopolis ( grc, Αναστ� ...
'',
there are no yet evidences of Cheiragonidae in the fossil record.
[ Many of these crabs were formerly treated as members of the ]Atelecyclidae
Atelecyclidae is a family of crabs belonging to the superfamily Cancroidea, and currently contains eight genera of which two are extinct. However, the genera other than '' Atelecyclus'' and '' Pseudocorystes'' do not belong in the Cancroidea
C ...
.
References
External links
*
Crabs
Extant Eocene first appearances
Decapod families
{{crab-stub