Guinusia chabrus

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Guinusia chabrus
Red rock crab, Plagusia chabrus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Plagusiidae
Genus: Guinusia
Species:
G. chabrus
Binomial name
Guinusia chabrus
Synonyms
  • Cancer chabrusLinnaeus, 1758
  • Cancer velutinusLinnaeus, 1764
  • Grapsus capensisDe Haan, 1835
  • Plagusia capensis(De Haan, 1835)
  • Plagusia chabrus(Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Plagusia tomentosusH. Milne-Edwards, 1837
  • Plagusia spinosaMacLeay, 1838
  • Plagusia gaimardiH. Milne-Edwards, 1853

The red rock crab, Guinusia chabrus, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Plagusiidae. [1] It is found in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile. [2]

Contents

Description

A sturdy square bodied crab with a smooth dark red-brown carapace and yellow longitudinal ridges on the legs, yellow knobs on the pincers. There may be four white spots on the carapace in a roughly semicircular pattern. [3]

Distribution

Southern Africa: Luderitz to Sodwana Bay, Subtidal to at least 100m. [3]

Ecology

Common on reefs. Often seen in crevices or hiding under other benthic organisms. Scavenger. [3]

With Haliotis midae it makes up the favoured diet of Octopus vulgaris in False Bay, South Africa. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  2. "Plagusia chabrus, red rock crab, (Plagusia capensis)". SeaFriends. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. It is also found in the intertidal zone, such as a rocky shore environment in New Zealand and Australia ISBN   978-0-620-41639-9
  4. C. D. Smith (2003). "Diet of Octopus vulgaris in False Bay, South Africa". Marine Biology . 143 (6): 1127–1133. doi:10.1007/s00227-003-1144-2.