LITHOIDEA Samouelle, 1819

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 163

SUPERFAMILY LITHOIDEA Samouelle, 1819

McLaughlin et al. (2007), in a comprehensive morphological and cladistic revision of the Anomura , firmly supported the designation of the king crabs ( Lithodidae ) and their relatives as a separate superfamily within the Anomura . De Grave et al. (2009), in their comprehensive list of the decapods, also followed this system of classification. Although certain aspects of the developmental biology of the pagurids and lithodids suggested that the lithodoids might be derived by carcinization from pagurids (the "hermit to king" hypothesis), McLaughlin et al. (2007) found no convincing evidence for this idea. They also supported the division of the Hapalogastridae and Lithodidae s. s. into separate families.