| Liocarcinus pusillus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Polybiidae |
| Genus: | Liocarcinus |
| Species: | L. pusillus |
| Binomial name | |
| Liocarcinus pusillus (Leach, 1815) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Liocarcinus pusillus, common name dwarf swimming crab, [3] is a species of crab in the Portunidae family. [4]
Liocarcinus pusillus is a small, colourful species with a broad, suboval carapace having a maximum width of 25 mm (1.0 in). However, most specimens are usually less than 20 mm (0.8 in). [4] [5] This species occurs in a wide range of colours. [4] The front has three sharpened tusks, directed forward. [3]
Liocarcinus pusillus occurs from North-West Africa, to Lofoten, Norway [4] [5] including the North Sea. [3] It is found around the shores of: England, in such places as Northumberland, Yorkshire, The Wash, Thames, the eastern English Channel, Isle of Wight, Portland, Plymouth, the Scilly Isles, the Bristol Channel, Liverpool Bay; Scotland - Shetland, Orkney, Firth of Forth, Argyll and Clyde, The Minch; Ireland, occurring in and around Dublin, Belfast, County Mayo, Galway Bay, Fastnet Rock, County Cork; and elsewhere in the British Isles including the Channel Islands, Anglesey and the Isle of Man. [6]
Specimens range intertidally up to 100 metres, [5] dwelling on sandy to stony bottoms, [4] [6] but prefer gravel or stony substrates.
Cancer pagurus, commonly known as the edible crab or brown crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and perhaps the Mediterranean Sea. It is a robust crab of a reddish-brown colour, having an oval carapace with a characteristic "pie crust" edge and black tips to the claws. A mature adult may have a carapace width up to 25 centimetres and weigh up to 3 kilograms. C. pagurus is a nocturnal predator, targeting a range of molluscs and crustaceans. It is the subject of the largest crab fishery in Western Europe, centred on the coasts of the British Isles, with more than 60,000 tonnes caught annually.
Carcinus maenas is a common littoral crab. It is known by different names around the world. In the British Isles, it is generally referred to as the shore crab, or green shore crab. In North America and South Africa, it bears the name European green crab.
Carcinus is a genus of crabs, which includes Carcinus maenas, an important invasive species, and C. aestuarii, a species endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.
Liocarcinus vernalis, the grey swimming crab, is a small, shallow-water crab in the family Portunidae. L. vernalis was thought for a long time to be a predominantly Mediterranean species, but its known range was extended by a series of observations in the 1980s and 1990s. It ranges from West Africa to the southern North Sea.
Hemigrapsus sanguineus, the Japanese shore crab or Asian shore crab, is a species of crab from East Asia. It has been introduced to several other regions, and is now an invasive species in North America and Europe. It was introduced to these regions by ships from Asia emptying their ballast tanks in coastal waters.
Liocarcinus is a genus of crabs, which includes the flying crab, the vernal crab and several other swimming crabs.
Liocarcinus marmoreus, sometimes known as the marbled swimming crab, is a species of crab found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and North Sea. It may be found on sand and gravel in the sublittoral and lower littoral zones, down to a depth of 84 metres (276 ft), from the Azores and the Alboran Sea as far north as the Shetland Islands. It reaches a carapace length of 35 millimetres (1.4 in), and is distinguished from other similar species by the presence of three similarly sized teeth on the edge of the carapace, between the eyes, and by the marbled colouration on the carapace. L. marmoreus is sometimes parasitised by the barnacle Sacculina.
Liocarcinus depurator, sometimes called the harbour crab or sandy swimming crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea. It grows up to 50 millimetres (2.0 in) in width and 40 mm (1.6 in) long, and can be distinguished from other crabs, such as the shore crab Carcinus maenas, by the curved rows of white spots on its carapace.
Pilumnus hirtellus, the bristly crab or hairy crab, is a species of European crab. It is less than 1 inch (25 mm) long and covered in hair. It lives in shallow water and feeds on carrion.
Hepatus epheliticus, known by various names, including the calico crab and Dolly Varden crab, is a species of crab. It lives in shallow water in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Chesapeake Bay to the Dominican Republic. It has a 3-inch (76 mm)–wide carapace adorned with large red spots with darker outlines.
Liocarcinus navigator is a species of crab in the family Portunidae.
Chionoecetes opilio, a species of snow crab, also known as opilio crab or opies, is a predominantly epifaunal crustacean native to shelf depths in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and north Pacific Ocean. It is a well-known commercial species of Chionoecetes, often caught with traps or by trawling. Seven species are in the genus Chionoecetes, all of which bear the name "snow crab". C. opilio is related to C. bairdi, commonly known as the tanner crab, and other crab species found in the cold, northern oceans.
Ophiura ophiura or the serpent star is a species of brittle star in the order Ophiurida. It is typically found on coastal seabeds around northwestern Europe.
The curled octopus, also known as the horned octopus, lesser octopus or northern octopus, is a species of cephalopod found in the northeast Atlantic, ranging from Norway to the Mediterranean, including the British Isles. The total length of an adult is around 50 cm, but their arms are often tightly curled. It immobilises and eats large crustaceans by drilling a hole through their shell. It is mainly by-catch in commercial fisheries of the north eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, where the common octopus is the preferred species.
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.
Around 65 species of crab occur in the waters of the British Isles. All are marine, with the exception of the introduced Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, which occurs in fresh and brackish water. They range in size from the deep-water species Paromola cuvieri, which can reach a claw span of 1.2 metres, to the pea crab, which is only 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and lives inside mussel shells.
Polybius henslowii is a species of crab, the only species in the genus Polybius. It is a capable swimmer and feeds in open water in the north-east Atlantic Ocean and western Mediterranean Sea.
Liocarcinus zariquieyi is a species of crab that lives in the Mediterranean Sea. It is very similar to Liocarcinus pusillus, and was for a long time confused with that species.