This specific name was originally published as Gelasimus tetragonon var. spinicarpa Kossmann, 1877. This application was functionally lost and the name was reused by Rathbun when she described Uca spinicarpa Rathbun, 1900. Although normally Kossmann's name would be a senior homonym with priority, because his usage was completely ignored for over a century while Rathbun's application was widely used, the Code of the ICZN required that priority be reversed, making Kossmann's name a nomen oblitum and Rathbun's a nomen protectum (Rosenberg 2013). The species referred to by Kossmann is likely the one now known as Gelasimus hesperiae (Crane, 1975).