{{Short description|Superfamily of crabs}} {{redirect|Spider crabs|spiders of the family Thomisidae|crab spider}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Cenomanian|Recent}} | name = Majoidea | image = Maja squinado.jpg | image_caption = ''Maja squinado'' (Majidae) | taxon = Majoidea | authority = Samouelle, 1819 }}
'''Majoidea''' is a is a superfamily of crab which contains '''spider crabs''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fws.gov/species/spider-crabs-majoidea|title=Spider Crabs|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|access-date=30 June 2025}}</ref> along with the decorator crabs.
==Taxonomy== In "''A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans''" De Grave and colleagues divided Majoidea into six families.<ref name="Grave">{{cite journal|journal=Raffles Bulletin of Zoology |year=2009 |volume=Suppl. 21 |pages=1–109 |title=A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans |author1=Sammy De Grave |author2=N. Dean Pentcheff |author3=Shane T. Ahyong |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606064728/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |archivedate=2011-06-06 }}</ref> The classification has since been revised, with subfamilies Epialtinae and Mithracinae being elevated to families and Hymenosomatidae being moved to its own superfamily. The family composition according to the World Register of Marine Species is as follows:<ref>{{BioRef|WoRMS|title=Majoidea Samouelle, 1819 |id=106700 |access-date=23 December 2022}}</ref> * Epialtidae <small>MacLeay, 1838</small> * Inachidae <small>MacLeay, 1838</small> * Inachoididae <small>Dana, 1851</small> * Macrocheiridae <small>Dana, 1851</small> * Majidae <small>Samouelle, 1819</small> – "true" spider crabs * Mithracidae <small>Balss, 1929</small> * Oregoniidae <small>Garth, 1958</small> * {{extinct}}Priscinachidae <small>Breton, 2009</small>
Priscinachidae is represented by a single species, ''Priscinachus elongatus'', from the Cenomanian of France.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gérard Breton |date=1 September 2009 |title=Description of ''Priscinachus elongatus'' n. gen., n. sp., and Priscinachidae n. fam. for the earliest spider crab (Crustacea, Decapoda, Majoidea), from the French Cretaceous (Cenomanian) |journal=Geodiversitas |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=509–523 |url=https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g2009n3a2.pdf |language=fr,en |doi=10.5252/g2009n3a2 |bibcode=2009Geodv..31..509B |s2cid=85827715 }}</ref>
Notable species within the superfamily include:
* Japanese spider crab (''Macrocheira kaempferi''), the largest living species of crab, found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. * ''Libinia emarginata'', the portly spider crab, a species of crab found in estuarine habitats on the east coast of North America. * ''Hyas'', a genus of spider crabs, including the great spider crab (''Hyas araneus''), found in the Atlantic and the North Sea. * ''Maja squinado'', sometimes called the "European spider crab" * Australian spider crabs, found off Tasmania, are known to pile up on each other, the faster-moving crabs clambering over the smaller, slower ones.<ref>Martha Holmes & Michael Gunton (2009). ''Life: Extraordinary Animals, Extreme Behaviour''. London: BBC Books. {{ISBN|9781846076428}}.</ref>
<gallery style="text-align:center;" mode="packed"> Image:Candy crab.jpg|''Hoplophrys oatesi'', an Epialtidae Image:Limnopilos naiyanetri - (4).jpg|''Limnopilos naiyanetri'', a Hymenosomatidae Image:Macrocheira kaempferi.jpg|''Macrocheira kaempferi'', an Inachidae Image:Pyromaia cuspidata.jpg|''Pyromaia cuspidata'', an Inachoididae Image:Hyas coarctatus.jpg|''Hyas coarctatus'', an Oregoniidae </gallery>
==See also== * King crab
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Brachyura}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q280949}}
Category:Majoidea Category:Cenomanian first appearances Category:Crustacean superfamilies Category:Extant Cenomanian first appearances Category:Eubrachyura
{{Majoidea-stub}}