Gecarcoidea

Gecarcoidea is a genus of terrestrial crabs within the family Gecarcinidae.

Gecarcoidea
Christmas Island red crab
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Gecarcinidae
Genus:	Gecarcoidea H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
Synonyms [1]
Pelocarcinus H. Milne-Edwards, 1853 Hylaeocarcinus Wood-Mason, 1873 Limnocarcinus De Man, 1879

The following species within the genus Gecarcoidea are recognised:^[1][2]

Image	Name	Common name	Distribution
	Gecarcoidea humei [3](Wood-Mason, 1874)		the eastern Indian Ocean, including Christmas Island[3]
	Gecarcoidea lalandii H. Milne-Edwards, 1837	Andaman Islands purple crab	the Indo-Pacific from the Andaman Islands and eastwards
	Gecarcoidea natalis Pocock, 1889)	Christmas Island red crab	Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands

History

When Michael Türkay revised the Gecarcinidae family in 1974, the G. humei species was originally classified as a junior synonym of the G. lalandii species.^[3] However, due to differences in physical characteristics and distribution, G. humei became recognised as an independent species to G. lalandii in 2017.^[3]