Revision of the family Latreilliidae Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura)

A study of specimens from around the world and the re-examination of additional material used by Williams for his revision of Latreillia Roux, 1830 have lead to a revision of the family Latreilliidae Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura). The family now consists of two genera: Latreillia, with five species (L. elegans Roux, 1830, L. metanesa Williams, 1982, L. pennifera Alcock, 1900, L. valida de Haan, 1839, and L. williamsi Melo, 1990), and Eplumula Williams, 1982, with two species (E. australiensis (Henderson, 1888) and E. phalangium (de Haan, 1839)). Latreillia manningi Williams, 1982, which was described as a western Atlantic species distinct from the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic populations of L. elegans, is now regarded as a very close geographical variant of L. elegans because the differences between the two populations are insignificant and overlapping. The revision has resulted in an updated and more detailed definition of the Latreilliidae with the addition of characters such as the type of abdominal holding system and the morphology of the coxae of the last pair of pereopods (P5) of males. The revision has also re-examined our current knowledge of the phylogeny and biogeography of the family. It also reviews carrying behaviour, the use of the P5 for carrying living organisms or non-living objects for camouflaging, among its member species.