| Arenaeus cribrarius | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Portunidae |
| Genus: | Arenaeus |
| Species: | A. cribrarius |
| Binomial name | |
| Arenaeus cribrarius (Lamarck, 1818) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Arenaeus cribrarius, the speckled swimming crab, is a species of swimming crab in the family Portunidae. [2] [3] [4]
The crabs can be found from Massachusetts, U.S. to areas in Argentina. [5] They are common in shallow water on sand in ocean beaches, but can be found in depths up to two hundred feet (61 m) deep. [6] They are typically found in temperate or tropical waters between eleven and twenty-nine degrees Celsius with a salinity between twenty-eight and thirty-five PSU. [7] Arenaeus cribrarius often bury themselves entirely in sand, but leave a gap for water to pass to their gills. [6] The crabs maintain the gap by clearing the sand with their claws and hairs around their mouth area. [6] Arenaeus cribrarius is a nocturnal and solitary organism, which only interacts with other crabs of its species when it wants to breed. [7]
The Speckled swimming crab eats primarily detritus, but have also been recorded eating fish, mollusks, and other crustaceans. [7] They ambush prey that go near their buried bodies. [7] Speckled swimming crabs have been recorded capturing sea turtle hatchlings. [7] Sea turtles are the primary predator to Arenaeus cribrarius. [7] The crabs use their coloration and spines to ward off such predators. [7]
They share a very similar overall shape with the Atlantic Blue Crab. [6] The carapace of a Speckled swimming crab is light brown, light maroon, or olive with many white or tan irregular round spots. [6] The males tend to be more colorful. [6] The carapace can reach lengths between 4.5 and 6 inches wide (~120-150mm). [6] Each side of the carapace consists of nine lateral teeth with the last extending outward. [6] Between the eye sockets there are six partially fused frontal teeth. [6]
Arenaeus cribrarius has ten legs since it is a part of the order decapoda. [6] The first four pairs of legs have yellow tips and are used for walking. [6] These are referred to as broad pereopods. [6] They fifth pair of pereopods are used for swimming. [6] They are a wide flattened paddle shape. [6] Overall, Arenaeus cribrarius can weigh as much as forty-five grams (1.6 ounces). [6]
When the Arenaeus cribrarius reaches sexual maturity around five to seven years of age they begin to mate. [6] Arenaeus cribrarius breed year-round and are polygynandrous. [8] The male crab, who is between molts, will select a premolt female who is expressing courtship behavior. [9] The crabs communicate with one another through chemical, visual, and acoustic cues. [8] The male then carries the female for thirty days in a precopulatory position under his body until the female molts. [7] [9] When the female's shell is still soft the male will invert her to position themselves with their abdomens in contact together. [7] The male then transfers his spermatophores to her gonopores. [7] Once mating has occurred, the eggs will spawn around fifty-seven days later and will have an fecundity between 135,000 and 680,000. [9] Nauplia will hatch from the Speckled swimming crab eggs around eighteen days and will grow into the first stage of crab thirteen days later. [9] The average age for a Speckled swimming crab is two years. [9]
In some parts of the world Arenaeus cribrarius is important in fisheries, particularly along the Brazilian coast. [9] The crab is harvested for its meat and residual proteins are used to produce fertilizers and feed for livestock. [9] Along with the consumption of meat, the Speckled swimming crab is harvested for its byproducts. [9] Chitin can be extracted from the crab and used in products like adhesives, cosmetics, photographic emulsions, and anticoagulants.
Callinectes sapidus, the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or, reigonally, the Maryland blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally.
The Dungeness crab makes up one of the most important seafood industries along the west coast of North America. Its typical range extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, near Santa Barbara, California. Dungeness typically grow 6-7 inches at their widest point and inhabit eelgrass beds and sandy bottoms. Its common name comes from the Dungeness Spit in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington state, United States, which shelters a shallow bay inhabited by the crabs.
The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin is a species of terrapin native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico coast, as well as in Bermuda. It belongs to the monotypic genus Malaclemys. It has one of the largest ranges of all turtles in North America, stretching as far south as the Florida Keys and as far north as Cape Cod.
The Florida stone crab is a crab found in the western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Colombia, including Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, The Bahamas, and the East Coast of the United States. The crab can also be found in and around the salt marshes of South Carolina and Georgia. It is widely caught for food. The closely related species Menippe adina is sometimes considered a subspecies – they can interbreed, forming hybrids – and they are treated as one species for commercial fishing, with their ranges partly overlapping. The two species are believed to have diverged approximately 3 million years ago.
Stenorhynchus seticornis, the yellowline arrow crab or simply arrow crab, is a species of marine crab.
The Australian flatback sea turtle is a species of sea turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is endemic to the sandy beaches and shallow coastal waters of the Australian continental shelf. This turtle gets its common name from the fact that its shell has a flattened or lower dome than the other sea turtles. It can be olive green to grey with a cream underside. It averages from 76 to 96 cm in carapace length and can weigh from 70 to 90 kg. The hatchlings, when emerging from nests, are larger than other sea turtle hatchlings when they hatch.
Portunus pelagicus, also known as the blue crab, blue swimmer crab, blue manna crab and flower crab is a species of large crab found in the Indo-Pacific, including off the coasts Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam; and in the intertidal estuaries around most of Australia and east to New Caledonia.
The Gulf Coast spiny softshell turtle, a subspecies in the Trionychidae family of softshell turtles, is endemic to the south-eastern United States.
Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider with a holarctic distribution. In North America, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider, as it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays and milkweed plants. They are called crab spiders because of their unique ability to walk sideways as well as forwards and backwards. Both males and females of this species progress through several molts before reaching their adult sizes, though females must molt more to reach their larger size. Females can grow up to 10 mm (0.39 in) while males are quite small, reaching 5 mm (0.20 in) at most. Misumena vatia are usually yellow or white or a pattern of these two colors. They may also present with pale green or pink instead of yellow, again, in a pattern with white. They have the ability to change between these colors based on their surroundings through the molting process. They have a complex visual system, with eight eyes, that they rely on for prey capture and for their color-changing abilities. Sometimes, if Misumena vatia consumes colored prey, the spider itself will take on that color.
Ovalipes catharus, commonly known as paddle crab and Māori: pāpaka, is a species of crab of the family Portunidae. It is found around the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and in south-eastern parts of Australia. Individuals from shallow waters, 0.1–0.5 metres (4–20 in) deep, have a carapace width of only 10–15 millimetres (0.4–0.6 in), while those from 5–15 m (16–49 ft) are 100–140 mm (3.9–5.5 in) wide.
Callinectes similis, sometimes called the lesser blue crab or dwarf crab, is a West Atlantic species of blue crab. It was described by Austin B. Williams in 1966.
Dyspanopeus sayi is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North Sea since 2007 and the Black Sea since 2010. It can reach a carapace width of 20 mm (0.8 in), and has black tips to its unequal claws. It feeds on bivalves and barnacles, and is in turn eaten by predators including the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Eggs are produced from spring to autumn, the offspring reach sexual maturity the following summer, and individuals can live for up to two years. The closest relative of D. sayi is D. texanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico; the two species differ in subtle features of the genitalia and the last pair of walking legs.
Loxorhynchus grandis, commonly known as the sheep crab or spider crab, is a species of crab in the family Epialtidae. It is the largest crab found on the California coast. The species was first described to science by William Stimpson in 1857. The type specimen was collected on the coast of California, near San Francisco. Fossils from the late Miocene epoch indicate that this species is at least 11.63 to 5.333 million years old.
Lissocarcinus orbicularis, common names sea cucumber crab, red-spotted white crab, and harlequin crab is a species of crab in the family Portunidae. This species gains one of its names from its close-knit relationship with holothuroids, the sea cucumbers. L. orbicularis should not be confused with L. laevis, a similar species of swimming crab, or Camposcia retusa, both of which are also commonly referred to as the harlequin crab. L. orbicularis displays numerous morphological and social adaptations for feeding and has a large distribution throughout the Indo-West Pacific.
Charybdis hellerii, the Indo-Pacific swimming crab or spiny hands is a species of crab from the swimming crab family, the Portunidae. Its native range covers the Indian and Pacific Oceans but it has been introduced to the western Atlantic and has invaded the Mediterranean. It is a commercially exploited species in south-east Asia.
Charybdis longicollis, the lesser swimming crab, is a species of crab from the swimming crab family, the Portunidae. It has a native range which covers the north-western Indian Ocean and it has invaded the Mediterranean Sea by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal.
Arenaeus is a genus of swimming crabs in the family Portunidae. There are at least two described species in Arenaeus.
Charybdis feriata, the crucifix crab, is a species of swimming crab in the family Portunidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region.
Hepatus pudibundus, the flecked box crab, is a crab from the class Malacostraca. They are found in the Atlantic Ocean with Brazil having a dense population of H. pudibundus, as they are one of the most commonly seen crabs in the country. Many of the studies done on H. pudibubus have occurred in the Ubatuba region of Brazil, where there is a rapid expansion of tourism that is affecting marine ecosystems.
Portunus armatus is a species of crustacean, a swimming crab in the family Portunidae found in Australia and eastwards to New Caledonia. Common names include blue swimmer crabs, Blue manna, Blueys, and Jennies. The species was originally considered as a geographic variation of Portunus pelagicus, however in 2010 the Portunus pelagicus species was reviewed using DNA, as well as physical characteristics including measurements and four species recognised: Portunus pelagicus, Portunus armatus, Portunus reticulatis and Portunus segnis. The range of Portunus armatus overlaps with Portunus pelagicus in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Media related to Arenaeus cribrarius at Wikimedia Commons