Gebiidea is an

infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...

decapod The Decapoda or decapods, from Ancient Greek δεκάς (''dekás''), meaning "ten", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a large order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and p ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s. Gebiidea and

Axiidea Axiidea is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans. They are colloquially known as mud shrimp, ghost shrimp, or burrowing shrimp; however, these decapods are only distantly related to true shrimp. Axiidea and Gebiidea are divergent infraorders of t ...

are divergent infraoders of the former infraorder

Thalassinidea Thalassinidea is the former infraorder classification of decapod crustaceans that live in burrows in muddy bottoms of the world's oceans. In Australian English, the littoral thalassinidean '' Trypaea australiensis'' is referred to as the ''yabby'' ...

. These infraorders have converged

ecologically Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and morphologically as burrowing forms.Dworschak, Peter C. (2012). ''Treatise on Zoology - Anatomy, Taxonomy, Biology. The Crustacea, Volume 9 Part B''. BRILL. pp. 109–100. . Based on molecular evidence as of 2009, it is now widely believed that these two infraorders represent two distinct lineages separate from one another. Since this is a recent change, much of the literature and research surrounding these infraorders still refers to the Axiidea and Gebiidea in combination as "thalassinidean" for the sake of clarity and reference. This division based on molecular evidence is consistent with the groupings proposed by Robert Gurney in 1938 based on larval developmental stages.Pohle, G. and Santana, W., Gebiidea and Axiidea (=Thalassinidea), in ''Atlas of Crustacean Larvae'', Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2014, pp. 263–271. The

Gebiidea belongs to the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Reptantia Reptantia is a clade of decapod crustaceans named in 1880 which includes lobsters, crabs and many other well-known crustaceans. Classification In older classifications, Reptantia was one of the two suborders of Decapoda alongside Natantia, w ...

, which consists of the walking/crawling decapods (

lobsters Lobsters are malacostracans decapod crustaceans of the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, in ...

and

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax. Their exoskeleton is often thickened and ha ...

). The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

below shows Gebiidea's placement within the larger

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Decapoda The Decapoda or decapods, from Ancient Greek δεκάς (''dekás''), meaning "ten", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a large order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, a ...

, from analysis by Wolfe ''et al.'', 2019. Gebiidea comprises the following

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

: *

Axianassidae Axianassidae is a family of mud shrimp crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Gebiidea, within the order Decapoda. It contains the following genera: However, Axianassidae is sometimes considered to be a junior synonym In taxonomy, the scie ...

Schmitt, 1924 *

Laomediidae Laomediidae is a family of mud shrimp crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Gebiidea, within the order Decapoda. It contains the following genera: * '' Jaxea'' Nardo, 1847 * '' Laomedia'' De Haan, 1841 * '' Naushonia'' Kingsley, 1897 * '' Resch ...

Borradaile, 1903 *

Thalassinidae ''Thalassina'' is a genus of mud lobsters found in the mangrove swamps of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Its nocturnal burrowing is important for the recycling of nutrients in the mangrove ecosystem, although it is sometimes consid ...

Latreille, 1831 *

Upogebiidae Upogebiidae is a family (biology), family of mud shrimp crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Gebiidea, within the order (biology), order Decapoda. They are infauna, living their entire adult lives in seafloor burrows. Over 100 species have bee ...

Borradaile, 1903 However, Axianassidae is sometimes considered to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of Laomediidae.

References

Arthropod infraorders {{Decapod-stub