Borradaile, 1903
Carapace with rostrum well developed, spinous, cervical groove delimiting anterior and posterior region of about equal size; linea thalassinica present. Ocular peduncles cylindrical, cornea terminal. Antennal scale reduced. First maxilliped with slender exopod provided with terminal flagellum, endopod short and epipod rudimentary or absent; second with slender exopod and very short epipod turned internally; third with exopod, endopod pediform, without dentate crest, epipod versigial or absent. Neither pleurobranch nor epipods on pereiopods; first pereiopod equal, chelate, subchelate or simple; second to fourth pereiopods simple; fifth pereiopod subchelate or chelate. First pleopod present in female only, second to fifth similar, foliaceous, without appendix interna. Exopod of uropods not lobed.
The taxonomy of this family is still in a state of uncertainty. Until recently only a single genus, Upogebia, was recognized in it, being divided into several subgenera. In 1982, Sakai added two more Upogebiid genera, while some recent authors have elevated some of the subgenera to full generic status (an action not recognized here).
Of the many (about 100) species of Upogebiidae known at present, this catalogue deals only with the five species that have been reported to be of fisheries interest. All five of these species belong in the nominotypical subgenus Upogebia.
As the number of species treated here is so small compared to the total number of Upogebiids no effort has been made to provide a key, but of each species the most important morphological features are presented.