Speocarcinus Stimpson, 1859

Speocarcinus Stimpson, 1859 . Type species: Speocarcinus carolinensis Stimpson, 1859, by monotypy. Gender masculine.

Species included. The American genus Speocarcinus includes eight extant and one fossil species: Speocarcinus amazonicus Brandão, Tavares & Coelho-Filho, 2010 (WA), S. carolinensis Stimpson, 1859 (WA); S. granulimanus Rathbun, 1894 (EP); Speocarcinus dentatus n. sp. (WA); S. lobatus Guinot, 1969 (WA); S. meloi D’Incao & Silva, 1992 (WA); S. monotuberculatus Felder & Rabalais, 1986 (WA); S. spinicarpus Guinot, 1969 (EP); and S. berglundi Tucker, Feldmann & Powell, 1994 (Late Miocene to Late Pliocene of Southern California).

Remarks. Two recent molecular analysis suggested close relationship between Pseudorhombilidae Alcock, 1900 and Speocarcininae Števčiċ, 2005 (Thoma et al. 2009; Lay et al. 2011), with the two nested within what is currently defined as Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838 . Lay et al. (2001: 421, fig. 1) recovered a monophyletic Speocarcininae, but did not test the monophyly of the Pseudorhombilidae, because only one pseudorhombilid representative was sampled. Also, in such a sample it is not possible to infer whether or not the monogeneric Speocarcininae is nested within Pseudorhombilidae . Therefore, decisions as to the dismissal of the Speocarcininae as a junior synonym of the Pseudorhombilinae or its acceptance as a subfamily within Xanthidae can only be taken when more information is available.