 It was transferred to a new genus by James Dwight Dana in 1851, alongside a newly described species, "H. inornatus".A 1983 study concluded that "Heloecius" was the most primitive of the crabs in the family Ocypodidae, and erected a new subfamily for the genus, which was later raised to the rank of family, as Heloeciidae.Dana's "H. inornatus" and other species described in the genus are all considered taxonomic synonyms of "H. cordiformis".