•Our knowledge of brachyuran crabs of Callovian age is extremely poor.•Glaessneropsidae are among the oldest brachyuran crabs known to date.•The orbital structures of glaessneropsid crabs are conspicuously complex.•A solid diagnosis for Glaessneropsidae is present, but support for a suprafamilial rank lacks. A new genus, Meroncarcinus, and two new species, M. boursicoti and Verrucarcinus marsae, are described from Callovian (Middle Jurassic) deposits of Calvados and Maine-et-Loire, France. New material of the type species of the genus Verrucarcinus, V. torosus, is examined, which improves our understanding of the peculiar morphology of this group of crabs. A new genus and species, Vilsercarcinus keuppi, is recognised from Lower-Middle Jurassic strata of Germany-Austria. Charassocarcinus, a Lower-Middle Jurassic crustacean genus of doubtful taxonomic affinity, is revived and here assigned to the Glaessneropsidae. All of this material forms the basis for a re-examination of the Glaessneropsidae, and an enhanced diagnosis is compiled. The morphology of Glaessneropsidae, one of the oldest known brachyuran families, is discussed; its complex orbital structure is remarkable for such an ancient group of crab and raises questions about its relationship with the basal brachyuran group Homolodromioidea. A solid support for a suprafamilial rank for the Glaessneropsidae is lacking.