CRINCH! The Crab of the Day!

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Photo credit: P. Bacchet.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/02/2017: Zosimus aeneus, or The Devil Crab is a bright red, family Xanthidae species of reef crab found in Indo-Pacific waters, from East Africa to Asia, Oceana, and Hawaii. Devil Crabs have distinctive patterns of brownish and red lumpy blotches on a paler background. These intertidal reef-dwellers are EXTREMELY TOXIC as both the shell and the meat of Zosimus aeneus contain significant concentrations of neurotoxins including tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=209076
http://species-identification.org/speci ... an&id=1262
http://malaya.com.ph/business-news/news ... oral-reefs

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Photo credit: Paul W.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/04/2017: The Crowned Coral Crab, or Quadrella coronate is a STUNNING family Trapeziidae species of coral crab from Central and South Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of the NCE/Oceana. This tiny crab lives its life on obligate soft corals, namely the swaying Gorgonians found on the substrate beds at depths greater than 100 m. Q. coronate keeps its chosen coral clean and debris free, while simultaneously getting a more advantageous (the sway factor) feeding platform to capture and consume plankton.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=210309
http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/bismal/e/view/9041415

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Photo credit: R. Promdam.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/05/2017: Lupocyclus rotundatus, or The Rounded Swimming Crab is a family Portunidae species found in Oceania, Polynesia, Southeast and East Asia, East Africa, and parts of the Indian Ocean. Seldom larger than 20 mm in body width, L. rotundatus is named for its rounded, ovaloid (that’s what rotundatus means!) carapace- far more prominent in this species than with other ‘scissor crabs.’ Hanging out in the muddy depths at 30 m to 100 m, these Brachyurans are often found living adjacent to other species of crabs.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=442774
http://naturewatch.org.nz/taxa/368835-L ... rotundatus

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Photo credit: Gilles Mermet.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/06/2017: Dromia bollorei, or The Ivory Sponge Crab (named for both its color and its geographic distribution!) Is a family Dromiidae species of carrier crab found ONLY in the Ivory Coast and Mauritania. (West Africa) This African Sponge Crab can be differentiated from other Dromiidae species, by the presence of distinct sternal grooves ending either apart or together between or behind the cheliped bases. These tropical monsters live at a depth of around 100 meters, and are known to use their pair of legs to carry living sponges for camouflage. D. bollorei was officially differentiated and catalogued by French carcinologist, Jacques Forest in 1974.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=241021
http://eol.org/pages/3067077/overview

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Photo credit: Chris Mallory.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/07/2017: Isocheles pilosus, or The Moon Snail Hermit Crab is a California/Pacific tidal species named for, you guessed it, sequestering the former shells of Moon Snails! Found mainly in Monterey and Morro Bays, this species of hermit frequents tidepools and shallows looking for either tasty vegetation/detritus OR an easy living meal. Though relatively innocuous themselves, Moon Snail Hermits are frequently the victims of a GROSS parasite! Asymmetrione ambodistorta, a relatively recently discovered Bopyrid “Epicaridean“ Isopod, gets inside the gill cavity or on/under the carapace these poor crabs, killing them slowly and distorting the host’s carapace with a characteristic bulge.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=368342
https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/ ... 98198#null
http://www.scamit.org/tools/toolbox-new ... 120118.pdf

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Photo credit: J. Poupin.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/08/2017: Pachygrapsus plicatus, or The Pleated Rock Crab is a Hawaiian/Indo-Pacific species of crab, named for its green and black carapace ‘pleats.’ Known locally as “A’aama,” this family Grapsidae nipper spends its adult live on land, (though in close proximity to the shore) returning to the tides mainly to procreate. Regularly found searching for meals on the shore adjacent rocks and exposed reefs, this tiny crab (about an inch across) will form large swarms to clean up tasty debris after storms and tsunamis.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=207541
http://species-identification.org/speci ... an&id=1668

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Photo credit: Makuriwa Museum of Natural History.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/09/2017: Goneplax sigsbei, called the Dentate Broadface Crab, is a tiny, rarely seen species of family Goneplacidae deepwater crabs, seen in the waters near Grenada and Barbados. Hiding in depths between 150 m and 300 m, this crab has no carapace pigment, (its shell is pale white) yet still maintains a fairly large eye-to-body ratio; especially for detritovores. Wandering the silty hardpan for any food bits that happen to fall down, G. sigsbei has a far larger ‘mobile’ or lower finger than the ‘fixed’ one. Believe it or not, MOST of this crab’s closest Goneplacid cousins are from the fossil record, dating back to the middle Miocene epoch and onwards!

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=440962
http://www.sealifebase.org/summary/Gone ... gsbei.html

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Photo credit: Arthur Anker.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/10/2017: Achelous ordwayi, or The Redhair Swimming Crab (formerly Portunus ordwayi) is a fairly uncommon family Portunidae predatory swimmer found in The Gulf of Mexico/North Atlantic Ocean. This secretive beastie hides under rocks far more commonly than larger swimming crabs as it only regularly reaches an inch or two across in carapace width. Despite being a nocturnal forager, this species is highly sought-after by dive photographers for its beautiful iridescent claws! Though Redhair Swimming Crabs are generally harmless unless provoked, you should still approach ‘em GINGERLY!

See what I did there?

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=451838
http://www.sealifebase.org/summary/Ache ... dwayi.html

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Photo credit: FWC - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/11/2017: Iliacantha sparsa, or The Shouldered Purse Crab is a gangly-limbed family Leucosiidae species native to the Western Atlantic. These muddy sea-floor dwellers are named for the forward placement of the upper joint of their claws, and the two prominent spines sitting where their ‘shoulders’ would be- if they had’ em! Tolerant of depths from 30 m to 190 m, these crabs use their long arms to snatch and eat mollusks.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=415506
http://eol.org/pages/1039843/overview

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Photo credit: Barry Brown.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/12/2017: The Quillback Spiny Crab, or Rochinia hystrix is a SCARY LOOKING family Epialtidae/subfamily Pisinae species from the Western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and The Caribbean Sea. Pickers of sunken detritus found in regional rubble beds, R. hystrix has a spiny carapace; perfect for dissuading potential predators for makin’ a meal of them! These crabs have an amazing range of depth tolerance, running from 150 m to 708 m.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=422012
http://www.eol.org/pages/342914/overview

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Photo credit: Andrew Hosie, Western Australian Museum..

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/13/2017:Harpiliopsis beaupresii, or the Glass Constellation Shrimp is a widely distributed family Palaemonidae Pontoniinid, (Say that three times fast!) found all over the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the coastsof Eastern Africa, to the Americas. This Caridean Shrimp (Infraorder Caridea) is named for the beautiful, finely speckled pattern of bluish white spots that decorate its mostly transparent carapace. Under UV lights, reddish spots appear as well. Combine these features with a pair of stunning orange eyes, and you have one amazing looking shrimp! These symbiotic ‘gardener shrimp’ are usually found on Pocilloporine Coral hosts; very frequently Acropora colonies. All is not perfect in Constellation Shrimp-land however- these crustaceans are often parasitized by Mesophryxus ventralis, a phryxid bopyrid parasite!

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=220132
http://www.eol.org/pages/1040221/overview

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Photo credit: Arthur Anker.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/14/2017: Percnon guinotae, or the Huntsman Crab is a Superfamily Grapsoidea/Family Percnidae species of shore crab limited in range to Somalia, Reuniion, the French Comoros, Madagascar, Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Tanzania and their surrounding islands. Though similar to the other members of its genus, the Huntsman Crab is larger, has red eyes, and is quite the nocturnal stalker. Though usually algivorous, P. guinotae will JACK easy meals in the form of weaker critters. A facultative coral dweller, this crab was named after French ‘Arthur G. Humes Award for Excellence in Research’ recipient, Alain Georges-Paul Crosnier.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=207573
http://www.eol.org/pages/2981548/overview

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Photo Credit: Eric Michael.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/15/2017: The Orange-Red Coral Hermit, or Pylopaguropsis speciosa is a stunning orange and purple family Paguridae Hermit Crab found in the Atlantic from Norway to Southern Africa and the Mediterranean. Seldom ever getting larger than 3 - 4 cm, this relatively harmless detritus eater lives on bushy Acropora and Leather corals, keeping them free of pests and algae overgrowth. P. speciosa’s size, color, and range of shell tolerance make it an attractive resident of nano-reef tanks!

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=366927
http://www.eol.org/pages/3109626/overview

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Photo Credit: Douglas Klug, 2008.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/17/2017: Herbstia parvifrons, or The Crevice Spider Crab is an East Pacific (California!) species of family Epialtidae ‘decorator crab.’ These beasties decorate themselves not with algae, plants, or anemones, but instead use fistfuls (clawfulls?) of the bryozoan (colonial 'Moss' animal) Aetea. These uniserial chains of irregularly branching zooids provide both camouflage AND resistance to certain parasites for the crab, and in return get greater mobility and thus greater feeding coverage! When Aetea aren’t available, as a second choice, H. parvifrons uses chemically noxious sponges. This Randall catalogued (1840) species is most often found in the Golf Ball Reef- Redondo Beach, California.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=441545
http://www.eol.org/pages/1025512/overview

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Photo Credit: Albert Sáiz Tezanos.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/18/2017: Lissoporcellana spinuligera, or The Small-Spined Porcelain Crab (刺額光滑瓷蟹 in Chinese!) is a family Porcellanidae “Porcelain” Indo-Pacific crab found primarily in tropical coastal China, Japan and Western Australia. Small-Spines live in tight-knit communities, based on the symbiotic relationship they, and other species have with the Green Mat Sponge, (莳箩蜂海绵) Haliclona cymaeformis. L. spinuligera lives within the chambers of the sponge, alongside Savigny's Brittle Star, (Ophiactis savignyi) the Short-Spined Brittle Star, (Ophiothrix exigua) the Red Sea Mussel, (Crenatula picta) and the Tortoise Barnacle. (Acasta sulcata)

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=410104
http://www.eol.org/pages/6874498/overview

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Photo Credit: L. Menou.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/19/2017: The Daddy-Longlegs Crab, or Latreillia elegans is a CRAAAZY looking species found in both the East and West Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and Coastal Africa. This family Latreilliidae species is obviously named for its ridiculously long legs! Aside from some of the proportionally longest gams in the crab world, L. elegans has a triangular body and distinctly black eyes. A rather rare and poorly understood species, samples of The Daddy-Longlegs Crab are usually found as commercial fishing by-catch.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=107265
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Ta ... axid=89940
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr_pRgThybY

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Photo Credit: Arthur Anker.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/20/2017: Actaea calculosa , or The Facetted crab, is an indeed ‘faceted’ species of family Xanthidae crab, found in Australia, India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and parts of Oceana. This H. Milne-Edwards catalogued species has the classic ‘Xanthid Oval’ shaped carapace, covered with almost geometric depressions, (thus its name!) and large nodules! Additionally on males, the claws are asymmetrical- usually the right cheliped (unless it was lost) is the beefy one!

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=209030
http://species-identification.org/speci ... an&id=1240

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Photo Credit: Jim Anderson.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/21/2017: Macropodia formosa, or The Feather Stilt Crab is a species of marine family Inachidae crustacean, found on seamounts and knolls in the west Indian Ocean, near St. Brandon and the Mozambican coast. Outlying populations can be found in Mozambique, the Republic of Mauritius, and Cargados Carajos. These algae covered spider crabs are expert at hiding from predators in their biome, and typically have a larger grazing range (they’re herbivores/detritus eaters!) than other Indo-African family Inachidae crabs. M. Formosa was first catalogued by Rathbun in 1911.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=208893
http://www.eol.org/pages/2982794/overview

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Photo Credit: Jon Gross and Keith Clements.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/22/2017: Paguristes turgidus, or The Orange Hairy Hermit is an appropriately named setae covered, family Diogenidae crab found in the coldwater Pacific; from the Chukchi Sea on the Russian Pacific coast, through Alaska, and down to San Diego. Unlike the more common family Paguridae hermits, (large right chela) the left and right chelae of P. turgidus are nearly the same size or in rare cases, the left chela may be bigger than the right. These subtidal hermits filter the silt for edible detritus at depths um to 500+ m! Orange Hairy Hermits frequently select the shells of either the Hairy Triton (Fusitriton oregonensis) or the Moon Snail. (Euspira lewisii)

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=368303
http://eol.org/pages/1037008/overview

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Photo Credit: Kåre Telnes.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/23/2017: Pagurus prideaux, called Prideaux's Hermit Crab (and occasionally, the "Deep Hermit Crab") is a family Paguridae species, native to the Atlantic coasts of Europe including the British Isles, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Azores. Noteworthy for the Cloak Anemones (Adamsia palliata) they carry on their back; the anemone expands as the hermit crab grows and resolve the need for shell changes! As larva, these anemones settle on a discarded gastropod shell, growing and eventually enveloping the entire shell. After a crab moves in and after the anemone outgrows the shell, it deposits a chitinous layer at the bottom of the shell, increasing the volume of the shell at the same rate as necessary for both crab and anemone.

The crab benefits from the protection it gets from the cloak anemone and its stinging nematocysts. In return the anemone gets to eat the remains from the hermit crab's meals, plus greater mobility for the collection of new detritus!

In more chilly environments, this role is filled by Hormathia digitata, the Northern Coldwater Anemone.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=107239
http://www.gbif.org/species/113181696
https://adlayasanimals.wordpress.com/20 ... -palliata/

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Photo Credit: Wendy Feltham.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/24/2017: Thickclaw Porcelain Crab, or Pachycheles rudis is a BEEFY ARMED family Porcellanidae (porcelain) crab, frequently found in the American Pacific Ocean: from Kodiak, Alaska to Baja California. Obviously named for its massive unequal-sized claws, this filter feeder lives in rocky areas and kelp holdfasts at up to 100m in depth with moderate to strong currents. Usually these crabs mate for life inside a chosen rock or coral hole- though sometimes the male’s ridiculous claw gets both crabs stuck! The branchial chamber of this crab is sometimes parasitized by the MUCHO YUCKY bopyrid isopod, Aporobopyrus muguensis.

Porcelain crabs are not actually “true crabs” and are a remarkable example of convergent evolution in the Decopod order. In fact, crab-like forms have evolved so many times within the crustacean clade that evolutionary biologists have given this type of convergent evolution its own name: carcinization. Porcelain crabs are more closely related to hermit crabs and squat lobsters than they are to a typical Cancer crab.

In British Columbia, gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) forage for pelagic, hyperbenthic, and benthic invertebrates including the zoeal larvae, of Pachycheles rudis.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=492861
http://eol.org/pages/342193/overview

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Photo Credit: Patrick Rebai.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/26/2017: The Harlequin Swimming Crab, or Lissocarcinus arkati is a diminutive species of urchin commensal, family Portunidae swimmer, found in the Indo-Pacific: from India and Madagascar to Japan and Australia. Also called the Red Urchin Swimming Crab or Agashi Crab, (アガシがに) this beautifully colored little guy may be a ferocious hunter of even tinier sea life, but usually it just hangs out among the spines on its chosen urchin, picking up detritus and food its left over by the urchin.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=208763
http://species-identification.org/speci ... an&id=1072

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Photo Credit: R. Cléva.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/28/2017: Uca (Austruca) annulipes, or The Ring-Legged Fiddler Crab is a terrestrial Indo-West Pacific (South Africa to Somalia, Madagascar, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines) species of claw-waving fiddler. Ring-Legged males are distinguished from the females by the presence of one giant cheliped (claw) that is constantly “waved” to attract a female and drive out other males. These crabs feed on detritus, dead organisms, algae, fungus, microbes from sediments, and the occasional live thing. After feeding takes place, the sediment that their meal-muck is taken from is replaced around their burrow like a little ball. This is mucho important for regional biomes as converting the anaerobic sub surface soil conditions to aerobic conditions during feeding causes important ‘soil-mixing’ or bioturbation.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=558114
http://eol.org/pages/2981567/overview

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Photo Credit: Sandy Dildine.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/29/2017: Southern Kelp Crab, sometimes called the 'Globose Kelp Crab' or Taliepus nuttallii is a distinct sub-tropical family Epialtidae species found living in the forests of giant kelp that grow along the coasts of California, Brittany, and South America. These ‘specialist feeders’ occupy the mid-water and upper portion of kelp strands, where they find food and protection in the dense growth. Though they run across the occasional enemy, these crabs- alongside the more than 800 species of marine animals living in a given giant kelp forest must share space in commensal, or more or less ‘friendly’ fashion.

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=441503
http://www.eol.org/pages/317753/overview

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Photo Credit: Sandy Dildine.

CRINCH! #CrabOfTheDay for 01/30/2017: Banareia armata, known in Japan as Tamaougigani, (タマ オウギガニ) is a small, wooly family Xanthidae rubble crab found in Indo-West Pacific waters: from East Africa to the Philippines. This crab has an irregular ovaloid body shape with lumpy granules covering its entire surface except for the margin grooves. Combined with its broad, chisel-shaped claws and thick furry coat, B. armata has an appearance likened to “a Sherman Tank in winter.”

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php? ... &id=211018
http://eol.org/pages/2984659/overview