A phylogenetic study of the Calappidae H. Milne Edwards 1837 (Crustacea: Brachyura) with a reappraisal of the status of the family

The systematic status of the family Calappidae and the phylogenetic relationships of its four component subfamilies are re-evaluated based on a cladistic analysis of 78 adult morphological characters. A single tree was produced (CI=0.654). The monophyly of the Calappidae sensu lato is rejected. The data suggest that the Calappinae and Hepatinae form a single lineage which is closer to some xanthids than to the Matutinae or Orithyiinae. A close link between the Matutinae and some leucosiids and between the Orithyiinae. and some dorippids is also apparent, with a suggestion that these four taxa all belong to a single lineage. A revised classification of the Oxystomata emend. and Calappidae is proposed. (C) 1996 The Linnean Society of London.