In the waters in and around New Zealand, 77 living species of crabs (and 10 species of crab-like Anomura) have been recorded, along with a further 24 species of fossil crabs (marked with an obelisk).[1] Of the extant crabs, 37 are endemictoNew Zealand (marked in boldface). The taxonomy below follows Ng et al. (2008) for the extant species,[2] and De Grave et al. (2009) for the fossils.[3]
Almost all the species are marine, with a single freshwater species, Amarinus lacustris (Hymenosomatidae).[1] An updated checklist published in 2010 lists 167 species of Brachyura, plus a little over 50 species of crab-like Anomura.[4] This list (of N.Z. Decapoda) has been republished with annotations in 2011.[5]
