Checklist of brachyuran crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the eastern tropical Pacific

Literature dealing with brachyuran crabs from the east Pacific is reviewed. Marine and brackish water species reported at least once in the Eastern Tropical Pacific zoogeographic subregion, which extends from Magdalena Bay, on the west coast of Baja California, Mexico, to Paita, in northern Peru, are listed and their distribution range along the Pacific coast of America is provided. Unpublished records, based on material kept in the author's collections were also considered to determine or con-firm the presence of species, or to modify previously published distribution ranges within the study area. A total of 450 species, belonging to 181 genera, are included in the checklist, the first ever made available for the entire tropical zoogeographic subregion of the west coast of America. A list of names of species and subspecies currently recognized as invalid for the area is also included