Cymo melanodactylus

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Cymo melanodactylus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Xanthidae
Genus: Cymo
Species:
C. melanodactylus
Binomial name
Cymo melanodactylus
Dana, 1852 [1]
Synonyms
  • Cancer (Cymo) meladactylus De Haan, 1833
  • Cancer (Cymo) meladactylus Herklots, 1861
  • Cymo melanodactylus saviiensis Ward, 1939

Cymo melanodactylus, the furry coral crab,[ citation needed ] is a species of small decapod crustacean in the family Xanthidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and lives in crevices and on the surface of corals in the genus Acropora .

Contents

Description

The carapace and limbs of Cymo melanodactylus have the appearance of being covered with short fur. It has large pale blue, stalked eyes, [2] a spiny carapace with a shallow groove down the middle and grows to about 1.3 cm (0.5 in) wide. [3] It typically has black fingers to its claws but is difficult to distinguish from the rather similar Cymo andreossyi on claw colour alone as some individuals have white finger tips and others have white fingers with black bases. A more reliable feature to distinguish between the two is the orange granulations on the carapace of Cymo melanodactylus. [4]

Distribution

Cymo melanodactylus is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Its range extends from the Red Sea and Madagascar to New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna. [1]

Biology

Cymo melanodactylus is an obligate commensal of Acropora spp. corals. [4] On the large table coral Acropora cytherea , there are usually just one or two of these crabs per head of coral. The crabs feed mostly on mucus secreted by the coral, but also consume zooplankton and suspended particles and nibble the living tissue, [5] though the coral seems little harmed by this. In 2010 in the Chagos Archipelago, infestations of as many as 47 of these crabs were found on individual heads of coral and these corals exhibited dead and dying tissue. The crabs were in close proximity to the damaged tissues but it was unclear whether the crabs were the original cause of the damage or whether they had moved in to exploit the already dying tissues. [6] A more recent study has shown that Cymo melanodactylus is attracted to acroporid corals suffering from white band disease and that the disease advances at a much slower rate when the crabs are present than it does when they are absent. [7]

In the Seychelles, this crab was found living on a different species of coral, Acropora formosa . A single coral head supported a mated pair, a single female and some juveniles. [4]

Related Research Articles

Skeletal eroding band (SEB) is a disease of corals that appears as a black or dark gray band that slowly advances over corals, leaving a spotted region of dead coral in its wake. It is the most common disease of corals in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and is also found in the Red Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coconut crab</span> Species of crustacean

The coconut crab is a terrestrial species of giant hermit crab, and is also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod known, with a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9 lb). The distance from the tip of one leg to the tip of another can be as wide as 1 m. It is found on islands across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as far east as the Gambier Islands, Pitcairn Islands and Caroline Island and as far west as Zanzibar. While its range broadly shadows the distribution of the coconut palm, the coconut crab has been extirpated from most areas with a significant human population such as mainland Australia and Madagascar.

<i>Dardanus pedunculatus</i> Species of crustacean

Dardanus pedunculatus, commonly referred to as the anemone hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab from the Indo-Pacific region. It lives at depths of up to 27 m and collects sea anemones to place on its shell for defence.

<i>Drupella cornus</i> Species of gastropod

Drupella cornus, common name : the horn drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

<i>Lybia tessellata</i> Species of crab

Lybia tessellata is a species of small crab in the family Xanthidae. It is found in shallow parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. Like other members of the genus Lybia, it is commonly known as the pom-pom crab,cheerleader crab, or boxer crab because of its habit of carrying a sea anemone around in each of its claws, these resembling pom-poms or boxing gloves.

<i>Carpilius maculatus</i> Species of crab

Carpilius maculatus, common names seven-eleven crab, spotted reef crab, dark-finger coral crab, and large spotted crab, is a species of crab in the family Carpiliidae, which also includes C. convexus and C. corallinus. While there have reports of the C. maculatus as being poisonous, biochemical testing has revealed that they lack any paralytic shellfish toxins.

<i>Lissocarcinus orbicularis</i> Species of crab

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.

<i>Trapezia rufopunctata</i> Species of crustacean

Trapezia rufopunctata is a species of guard crabs in the family Trapeziidae.

<i>Acropora secale</i> Species of coral

Acropora secale is a species of branching staghorn stony coral. It is found in shallow parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the type locality is Sri Lanka. The oldest fossils found date back to the Pleistocene.

<i>Acropora cytherea</i> Species of coral

Acropora cytherea is a stony coral which forms horizontal table like structures. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific Ocean in areas with little wave action, favouring back reef environments from 3 to 20 m depth.

<i>Isopora palifera</i> Species of coral

Isopora palifera is a species of stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is a reef building coral living in shallow water and adopts different forms depending on the water conditions where it is situated. It is found in the Western Indo-Pacific Ocean as far east as Australia.

<i>Acropora nasuta</i> Species of coral

Acropora nasuta is a species of branching stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific where it is found in shallow reef habitats. Like other corals of the genus Acropora, it is susceptible to coral bleaching and coral diseases and the IUCN has listed it as being "Near Threatened".

<i>Acropora lutkeni</i> Species of coral

Acropora lutkeni is a species of acroporid coral found in the central Indo-Pacific, Japan, Australia, the northern Indian Ocean, the East China Sea, southeast Asia, and the central and western Pacific Ocean. The species also occurs in the south Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Palau, the Andaman Islands, Fiji, the Philippines, the Banggai Islands, Samoa, the Raja Ampat Islands, the Line Islands, Papua New Guinea, and the Chagos Archipelago. It exists in tropical shallow reefs on upper slopes that are exposed to the action of strong waves or currents, and subtidally on edges of reefs and in submerged reefs. It exists at depths of between 3 and 12 metres and probably spawns in October.

<i>Seriatopora hystrix</i> Species of coral

Seriatopora hystrix is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It forms a branching clump and is commonly known as thin birdsnest coral. It grows in shallow water on fore-reef slopes or in sheltered lagoons, the type locality being the Red Sea. It is native to East Africa, the Red Sea and the western Indo-Pacific region. It is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Atergatis roseus, the pancake crab, is a species of reef crab from the family Xanthidae with a natural range extending from the Red Sea to Fiji. It has colonised the eastern Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal. The flesh of this crab, like many other species in the family Xanthidae, is toxic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corallivore</span> Animal that feeds on coral

A corallivore is an animal that feeds on coral. Corallivores are an important group of reef organism because they can influence coral abundance, distribution, and community structure. Corallivores feed on coral using a variety of unique adaptations and strategies. Known corallivores include certain mollusks, annelids, fish, crustaceans, flatworms and echinoderms. The first recorded evidence of corallivory was presented by Charles Darwin in 1842 during his voyage on HMS Beagle in which he found coral in the stomach of two Scarus parrotfish.

<i>Calcinus laevimanus</i> Species of crustacean

Calcinus laevimanus is a species of hermit crab in the genus Calcinus found in the Indo-West Pacific region, the type locality being Hawaii. It is also known as the blue-eyed hermit crab, zebra hermit crab, dwarf zebra hermit crab, left-handed hermit crab, Hawaiian reef hermit and other similar names.

<i>Grapsus albolineatus</i> Species of crab

Grapsus albolineatus is a species of decapod crustacean in the family Grapsidae, native to the Indo-Pacific.

<i>Gafrarium pectinatum</i> Species of mollusc

Gafrarium pectinatum, also known as Gafrarium tumidum, is a species of the genus Gafrarium in the family of Veneridae, order Veneroida in the bivalve class. They are edible clams. WoRMS believe the latter is the synonyms of the other one, but malocologist from Taiwan distinguish the two from the patterns of their shells

Calcinus argus, also known as the Argus hermit crab, is a species of hermit crabs in the family Calcinidae described by David Wooster in 1984. Originating from the Indo-West Pacific near Hawaii.

References

  1. 1 2 Davie, Peter (2012). "Cymo melanodactylus Dana, 1852". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  2. "Cymo melanodactylus - Schwarzfingrige Korallenkrabbe" (in German). Meerwasser-Lexikon.de. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  3. Ward, Melbourne (1939). "The Brachyura of the second Templeton Crocker American Museum Expedition to the Pacific Ocean" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (1049).
  4. 1 2 3 Garth, John S. (1984). "Brachyuran decapod crustaceans of coral reef communities of the Seychelles and Amirante Islands" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  5. Patton, Wendell K. (1994). "Distribution and Ecology of Animals Associated with Branching Corals (Acropora Spp.) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia". Bulletin of Marine Science. 55 (1): 193–211.
  6. Pratchett, M.S.; Graham, N.A.J.; Sheppard, C.R.C.; Mayes, B. (2010). "Are infestations of Cymo melanodactylus killing Acropora cytherea in the Chagos archipelago?" (PDF). Coral Reefs. 29 (4): 941. Bibcode:2010CorRe..29..941P. doi: 10.1007/s00338-010-0654-x .
  7. Pollock, F. J.; Katz, S. M.; Bourne, D. G.; Willis, B. L. (2012). "Cymo melanodactylus crabs slow progression of white syndrome lesions on corals". Coral Reefs. 32: 43–48. doi:10.1007/s00338-012-0978-9. S2CID   18228849.