 The first sand bubbler crab to be described was "Cancer sulcatus" (now "Dotilla sulcata") by Peter Forsskål in 1775.The genus "Scopimera" was originally described as a subgenus of "Ocypode" by Wilhem de Haan in 1833, although the first species, "Scopimera globosa" was not validly described until 1835.At the same time, De Haan tried to erect the genus "Doto" for Forskål's "Cancer sulcatus", not realising that the name was preoccupied by the mollusc genus "Doto".