Some unidentified planktonic larval stages have been assigned to the Calappidae using Rice's key of Brachyura families. Zoea stage I from the eastern region of the Algerian coast (western Mediterranean Sea) has been attributed, according to Manning and Holthuis (1980), to Calappa granulata (L.), the only recorded representative of the family from the Mediterranean Sea. Zoeal stages 1-lV from the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, Northern Red Sea, have been reported to the subfamily Matutinae. Comparisons of larvae of Calappa and of Hepatus and then, of larvae of Hepatus and of Matuta , show that Hepatus larvae are more closely related to those of Calappa , while those of Matuta are clearly distinct. It s suggested to place the genus Hepatus with the Calappinae. Guinot (1966. 1978) placed some genera, including Hepatus . in a 'unité parthenoxystomienne, lea Aethrinae'. Larval development is unknown for Aethra, Actaeomorpha. Hepatella and Osachila . However, comparison of Hepatus larvae with those of Parthenopidae shows that larval characters, particularly the setation of the endopod of the first maxilliped, are not conclusive for supporting such a regrouping. Moreover, the Calappidae have a combination of primitive and advanced features which suggest that their grouping in the Oxystomata seems more likely to be an adaptation to a similar way of life. The morphotypal taxon Oxystornata has been definitively rejected by Guinot (1978).