''Tanaocheles'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 the ...

s, the only genus in the family Tanaocheleidae. It contains two species, ''T. bidentata'' and ''T. stenochilus''. The two species were formerly placed in different families, and they were only shown to be related, and placed in a new subfamily (now elevated to the

taxonomic rank In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family (biology), family, order (biology), order, class (b ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

), in 2000.

''Tanaocheles bidentata''

Originally described as ''Chlorodius bidentatus'', and later called ''Chlorodiella bidentata'', ''Tanaocheles bidentata'' was assigned for a long time to the

Xanthidae Xanthidae is a family of crabs known as gorilla crabs, mud crabs, pebble crabs or rubble crabs. Xanthid crabs are often brightly coloured and are highly poisonous, containing toxins which are not destroyed by cooking and for which no antidote is ...

''Tanaocheles stenochilus''

''Tanaocheles stenochilus'' was described in 1989 from material collected in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, where it lives among colonies of the

stony coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a ...

''Leptoseris gardineri''. It was originally placed in the

Trapeziidae Trapeziidae is a family of crabs, commonly known as coral crabs. All the species in the family are found in a close symbiosis with cnidarians. They are found across the Indo-Pacific, and can best be identified to the species level by the colo ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2871057 Pilumnoidea