Atelecyclus rotundatus

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Atelecyclus rotundatus
Atelecyclus rotundatus.jpg
Scientific classification
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A. rotundatus
Binomial name
Atelecyclus rotundatus
(Olivi, 1792)
Synonyms   [1]
  • Cancer rotundatusOlivi, 1792
  • Cancer septemdentatusMontagu, 1813
  • Atelecyclus heterodonLeach, 1815

Atelecyclus rotundatus is a medium-sized crab found on the west coast of Europe and Africa as well as almost all the Mediterranean Sea and on the Cape Verde and Canary islands. [2] It has many common names, including circular crab, round crab and old man's face crab. It measures about 40 millimetres (1.6 in) across its almost circular, reddish-brown carapace and lives on coarse soft bottoms at shallow depths. [2] There are 9–11 sharp teeth on the front and 3 teeth between the eyes. [2]

This crab is sometimes mistaken for the more common Atelecyclus undecimdentatus . However, Atelecyclus undecimdentatus can be distinguished by its wider carapace and coarser granulations. [3]

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Chaceon bicolor is a species of crab. Chaceon bicolor differs from all species of the genus in color pattern, with the anterior part of the body purplish rather than reddish. In addition to color pattern, C. bicolor also differs from C. granulatus in having compressed rather than depressed dactyli on the walking legs; also, the hepatic region of the carapace in C. granulatus is coarsely granular, whereas it is smooth in C. bicolor. Juvenile specimens differ from adults in many features: the teeth of the carapace are much larger and sharper, there is a sharp spine on the carpus of the cheliped and a distal spine on the merus of each walking leg, plus the legs are longer and slenderer. Adult females differ from males in having much sharper anterolateral teeth on the carapace, sharper suborbital spines, and much shorter legs, with less trace of a distal dorsal projection on the merus. The carapace of females is more strongly arched from front to back and the protogastric regions are noticeably more inflated. The species is named as such because of its colour patter, purple an tan.

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References

  1. Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . 17: 1–286.
  2. 1 2 3 Sonia Rowley (2007). "Atelecyclus rotundatus. Circular crab". Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom . Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  3. "The Marine Life Information Network". MarLIN. Retrieved 2012-07-18.