| Eumunida picta | |
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| Species: | E. picta |
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| Eumunida picta | |
Eumunida picta is a species of squat lobster found in the deep sea. The species is strongly associated with reefs of Lophelia pertusa , a deep-water coral, and with methane seeps. [3] It is abundant in the western Atlantic Ocean, [4] where it is found from Massachusetts to Colombia. [5]
E. picta has a shrimp-like body, the carapace being about as wide as it is long, tapering at the front to the long rostrum. There are five spines on the rostrum above the eye and other spines on the sides of the carapace. The chelipeds are long and slender, about four times as long as the carapace. The pereiopods are also elongated and both are armed with many spines. This squat lobster is an orange-red colour with white-tipped legs and chelae, pinkish lateral carapace spines and a paler ventral surface. [6] [7]
The species is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It lives in deep water, often in association with cold seeps and with the coldwater coral Lophelia pertusa . [3]
A predator and omnivore, E. picta perches on a coral or stone waiting for small fish or other prey to come within range. Its colouring provides cryptic camouflage when it is among the fronds of L. pertusa. [6] It also feeds on diatoms, foraminiferans, radiolarians, copepods, arrow worms and marine snow. [7]
In one study, while observing the seabed with a remotely operated underwater vehicle, researchers found this squat lobster in association with the coral at a wreck site in the Gulf of Mexico at a depth of about 550 m (1,804 ft). When not in contact with L. pertusa, it was usually within a metre (3 feet) of it. The decapod may stay in proximity to the coral because its fronds are an ideal feeding location, provide a refuge from predators, or offer some other benefit. [3]
Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, with one species occupying caves above sea level. More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are commercially fished.
Lophelia pertusa, the only species in the genus Lophelia, is a cold-water coral which grows in the deep waters throughout the North Atlantic ocean, as well as parts of the Caribbean Sea and Alboran Sea. L. pertusa reefs are home to a diverse community, however the species is extremely slow growing and may be harmed by destructive fishing practices, or oil exploration and extraction.
Kiwa is a genus of marine decapods living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The animals are commonly referred to as "yeti lobsters" or "yeti crabs", after the legendary yeti, because of their "hairy" or bristly appearance. The genus is placed in its own family, Kiwaidae, in the superfamily Chirostyloidea.
The habitat of deep-water corals, also known as cold-water corals, extends to deeper, darker parts of the oceans than tropical corals, ranging from near the surface to the abyss, beyond 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) where water temperatures may be as cold as 4 °C (39 °F). Deep-water corals belong to the Phylum Cnidaria and are most often stony corals, but also include black and horny corals and soft corals including the Gorgonians. Like tropical corals, they provide habitat to other species, but deep-water corals do not require zooxanthellae to survive.
Galathea squamifera, the black squat lobster, or Montagu's plated lobster, is a species of squat lobster that lives in the north-east Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
Echinus tylodes is a species of sea urchin in the Echinidae family. It is white with rather sparse pink spines, and is endemic to the eastern coast of North America including the Gulf of Mexico.
Munidopsis andamanica is a species of squat lobster that lives in the deep sea and eats dead wood. It has long chelipeds, which are twice as long as the carapace.
Munidopsis serricornis is a species of squat lobster. It is widely distributed in the world's oceans, being found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the western Atlantic Ocean, and the Indo-Pacific. It grows up to a carapace length of 20 millimetres (0.8 in).
Galathea intermedia is a species of squat lobster found in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, as far north as Troms, Norway, south to Dakar and the Mediterranean Sea.
Galathea strigosa is a species of squat lobster found in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, from the Nordkapp to the Canary Islands, and in the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. It is edible, but not fished commercially. It is the largest squat lobster in the northeast Atlantic, reaching a length of 90 millimetres (3.5 in), or a carapace length of 53 mm (2.1 in), and is easily identified by the transverse blue stripes across the body.
Eumunida is a genus of squat lobsters. There are 29 recognised species in the genus, the majority of which are from the Pacific Ocean:
Nanogalathea raymondi is a species of squat lobster from the Bay of Bengal. It is the only species in the genus Nanogalathea. It can be distinguished from other squat lobsters by the lack of any teeth along the edge of the rostrum. The specific epithet raymondi commemorates the carcinologist Raymond B. Manning.
Allogalathea elegans is a species of squat lobster that is sometimes kept in marine aquariums. Despite their common name, they are more closely related to hermit crabs than lobsters.
The Munididae are a family of squat lobsters, taxonomically separated from the family Galatheidae in 2010.
Chirostyloidea is an anomuran taxon with squat lobster-like representatives. It comprises the three families Chirostylidae, Eumunididae and Kiwaidae. Although representatives of Chirostyloidea are superficially similar to galatheoid squat lobsters, they are more closely related to Lomisoidea and Aegloidea together forming the taxon Australopoda. No fossils can be confidently assigned to the Chirostyloidea, although Pristinaspina may belong either in the family Kiwaidae or Chirostylidae.
Munidopsis tuberosa is a species of squat lobster, first isolated from deep waters off Taiwan. M. tuberosa is similar to M. granosicorium, but it differs by the configuration of its carapace and rostrum.
Munidopsis echinata is a species of squat lobster, first found in deep waters off Taiwan. M. echinata is similar to M. colombiana, but differs by lacking an antennal spine on its carapace and having a rather longer antennal peduncle.
Eumunida chani is a species of chirostylid squat lobster first found in Taiwan. This species can be distinguished by its absence of a pad of densely distributed setae on its first pereopod, the anterior branchial margin which bears two spines, and the carpus of its first pereopod carrying only two spines.
Uroptychus orientalis is a species of chirostylid squat lobster first found in Taiwan. This species is separated from U. occidentalis by its shorter antennal scale and dactyli P2–4 with their ultimate and penultimate spines being subequal in size.
Torbenella calvata is a species of squat lobsters in the family Munididae. The species name, calvata, comes from the Latin word calvatus, meaning made bare. This is in reference to its lack of spines on the anterior ridge of the second abdominal segment.
Media related to Eumunida picta at Wikimedia Commons