Like other members of the family, these crabs are easily recognizable due to the complete absence of the last pair of walking legs (pereiopods). They thus only have six walking legs (excluding the claws), unlike the usual eight. Their carapace is subquadrate, wider than it is long, with a rounded anterior.[1]
Species
The following are the species classified under Hexapus.[1]
Hexapus estuarinus is now regarded as a junior synonym of Hexapus sexpes. In addition, the following the species has been transferred to other genera:[1][7][8]
Hexapus anfractus (Rathbun, 1909) - Originally described as Lambdophallus anfractus, now accepted as Mariaplax anfracta
Hexapus buchanani Monod, 1956 - Now accepted as Theoxapus buchanani
Hexapus edwardsii Serène & Soh, 1976 - Now accepted as Hexapinus edwardsii
Hexapus granuliferus Campbell & Stephenson, 1970 - Now accepted as Mariaplax granuliferus
Hexapus latipes De Haan, 1835 - Now accepted as Hexapinus latipes
Hexapus stebbingi Barnard, 1947 - Now accepted as Tritoplax stebbingi
Hexapus stephenseni Serène & Soh, 1976 - Now accepted as Mariaplax stephenseni
Hexapus williamsi Glassell, 1938 - Now accepted as Stevea williamsi
^Dinesh T. Velip; Chandrashekher U. Rivonker (2014). "Hexapus bidentatus sp. nov. (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hexapodidae), a new species from Goa, west coast of India". Marine Biology Research. 11 (1): 97–105. doi:10.1080/17451000.2014.889305. S2CID83647412.