BYTHOGRAEIDAE WILLIAMS, 1980

Martin, Joel W. & Haney, Todd A., 2005, Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (4), pp. 445-522 : 487

FAMILY BYTHOGRAEIDAE WILLIAMS, 1980

Remarks: The family Bythograeidae , first described by Williams (1980) to accommodate Bythograea thermydron from vents in the eastern Pacific, remains the only family of crabs truly endemic to deep-sea hydrothermal vents. To date, the family is represented by five genera: Allograea Guinot, Hurtado & Vrijenhoek, 2002 , Austinograea Hessler & Martin, 1989 , Bythograea Williams, 1980 , Cyanagraea de Saint Laurent, 1984 and Segonzacia Guinot, 1989 . All species are assumed to be predators rather than bacterial feeders or grazers (e.g. Gorodezky & Childress, 1994); indeed, they are probably top predators at vent sites (see Jollivet, 1993; Voight, 2000; Micheli et al., 2002). The southern extent of the family, as is currently known, appears to be at approximately 40°S, as indicated by observations of unnamed bythograeids by Stecher, Türkay & Borowski (2002) from the Foundation Seamount Chain of the Pacific- Antarctic Ridge and by Clark & O’Shea (2001) from the Kermadec Ridge off New Zealand, slightly further north.