Dromioidea

Belongs within: Brachyura.
Contains: Dromiinae.

The Dromioidea is a clade of crabs containing the families Dromiidae and Dynomenidae, though it has been suggested that one or both families may be para- or polyphyletic (Martin & Davis 2001). Depending on classification, the Homolodromiidae may also be included within the Dromioidea. The group is characterised by well-developed uropods on the abdomen forming a pair of dorsal plates or (more rarely) ventral lobes. In Dromiidae, the uropods are smaller but more prominent, being broader transversely in females than males. In Dynomenidae, the uropods are larger but less prominent, being more integrated into the general outline of the abdomen (Guinot & Tavares 2001).

Dromiids also have the last two pairs of legs oriented dorsally or sub-dorsally, allowing the crab to carry a protective shield of biological material.

Characters (from Guinot et al. 1998): Endophragmal skeleton fused, never with simple anastomoses; carapace generally folded ventrally; lateral or pleural line present (rarely a soft branchiostegite); brachyuran arrangement of eyes and cephalic appendagese in the same plane; orbital fossa present; buccal frame brachygnath, with more operculiform third maxillipeds; abdominal pleura never well developed (except some dromiid genera); dorsal uropods generally well developed and dorsally visible (exceptionally ventral); gills reduced in number, very far from trichobranchiate type.

<==Dromioidea
    |--DynomenidaeMD01
    |    |--Acanthodromia erinacea Milne Edwards 1880GT01
    |    |--Hirsutodynomene spinosa (Rathbun 1911)MG-H11
    |    |--Paradynomene tuberculata Sakai 1963GT03
    |    |--Cyclothyreus reussi (Gemmellaro 1870)BWW93
    |    |--MetadynomeneGT03
    |    |    |--M. crosnieri McLay 1999GT01
    |    |    `--M. tanensis (Yokoya 1933)GT03
    |    `--Dynomene Guérin-Méneville 1832GT03
    |         |--D. hispida Guérin-Méneville 1832GT03
    |         `--D. praedator Milne Edwards 1879GT03
    `--DromiidaeB64
         |  i. s.: Metadromia wilsoni (Fulton & Grant 1902)MG-H11
         |         DromilitesGT01
         |           |--D. bucklandii Milne Edwards 1837GT01
         |           |--D. lamarckii (Desmarest 1822)GT01
         |           `--D. simplex Quayle & Collins 1981GT01
         |         Frodromia McLay 1993GT03
         |           |--F. atypica (Sakai 1936) [=Petalomera atypica]GT03
         |           `--F. reticulata (Sakai 1974) [=Petalomera reticulata]GT03
         |         ‘Cancer’ aegagropila Fabricius 1787 [incl. Dromia australiasae Weber 1795 (n. n.)]GT03
         |         Mesodromilites glaber Woodward 1898BWW93
         |--DromiinaeGT03
         |--Hypoconcha Guérin-Méneville 1854 [Hypoconchinae]GT03
         |    |--*H. parasitica (Linnaeus 1763) [=Cancer parasiticus; incl. C. sabulosus Herbst 1799, Hypoconcha sabulosa]GT03
         |    |--H. arcuata Stimpson 1858GT03
         |    |--H. californiensis Bouvier 1898GT03
         |    |--H. lowei Rathbun 1933GT03
         |    |--H. panamensis Smith 1869 [incl. H. digueti Bouvier 1898]GT03
         |    `--H. spinosissima Rathbun 1933GT03
         `--SphaerodromiinaeGT03
              |--Eodromia McLay 1993GT03
              |    `--*E. denticulata McLay 1993GT03
              `--Sphaerodromia Alcock 1899GT03
                   |--*S. kendalli (Alcock & Anderson 1894) [=Dromidia kendalli]GT03
                   |--S. brizops McLay & Crosnier 1991GT03
                   |--S. ducoussoi McLay 1991GT03
                   |--S. lamellata Crosnier 1994GT03
                   `--S. nux Alcock 1899GT03

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[B64] Bennett, E. W. 1964. The marine fauna of New Zealand: Crustacea Brachyura. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 153: 1–120.

[BWW93] Briggs, D. E. G., M. J. Weedon & M. A. Whyte. 1993. Arthropoda (Crustacea excluding Ostracoda). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 321–342. Chapman & Hall: London.

[GT01] Guinot, D., & M. Tavares. 2001. Une nouvelle famille de crabes du Crétacé, et la notion de Podotremata Guinot, 1977 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura). Zoosystema 23 (3): 507–546.

[GT03] Guinot, D., & M. Tavares. 2003. A new subfamilial arrangement for the Dromiidae de Haan, 1833, with diagnoses and descriptions of new genera and species (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura). Zoosystema 25 (1): 43–129.

[MD01] Martin, J. W., & G. E. Davis. 2001. An updated classification of the Recent Crustacea. Natural History Museum Los Angeles County, Science Series 39: 1–124.

[MG-H11] McEnnulty, F. R., K. L. Gowlett-Holmes, A. Williams, F. Althaus, J. Fromont, G. C. B. Poore, T. D. O’Hara, L. Marsh, P. Kott, S. Slack-Smith, P. Alderslade & M. V. Kitahara. 2011. The deepwater megabenthic invertebrates on the western continental margin of Australia (100–1100 m depths): composition, distribution and novelty. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 80: 1–191.