| Mithraculus sculptus | |
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| Species: | M. sculptus |
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| Mithraculus sculptus | |
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Mithraculus sculptus, the green clinging crab [3] or emerald crab, is a species of crab in the family Majidae. It is a dark green colour and is found in tropical waters in the Caribbean Sea. It is sometimes kept in reef aquaria.
Mithraculus sculptus is a small crab with a carapace longer than it is wide and large chelae (claws). The carapace is flat, shiny and green, finely sculpted, with whitish material adhering to the projections. The chelae are also green and are spoon-shaped and tipped with white. The walking legs are rather paler in colour and are hairy and often covered with encrustations. This crab grows to a length of about 4 cm (1.6 in). [4]
Mithraculus sculptus is native to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Its range extends from the Bahamas and southern Florida to the northern part of Brazil at depths down to about 54 metres (177 ft). It is found in a number of varied habitats but may be most abundant in back reef environments. [4]
Mithraculus sculptus is largely nocturnal, hiding in caves, crevices and under rocks during the day. It is principally a scavenger but it also feeds on algae. [5] It is tolerant of both high and low temperatures and is capable of withstanding strong currents as it can use its legs to cling on to the substrate. [6] It is often to be seen among the branches of corals such as the Porites furcata . It also feeds on organisms encrusting the leaf blades of turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum). When threatened it often hides beneath the extended tentacles of the sun anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus). [4]
Mithraculus sculptus is sometimes kept in reef aquaria where it is said to be compatible with other reef species. It will feed on algae including bubble algae (Valonia ventricosa) and eat any left-over meaty foods but, if it is underfed, may consume coral polyps or small fish. [5] Research has shown that it can be used to control excessive growth of bubble algae in aquaria, but best results are found when its diet is supplemented with mysids but not with pelleted food. [7] It also possesses strong legs that can make it difficult to remove from an aquarium.
Calappa hepatica, the reef box crab, is a common benthic species of box crab of tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Red Sea.
Stenorhynchus seticornis, the yellowline arrow crab or simply arrow crab, is a species of marine crab.
The halloween hermit crab, also known as the striped hermit crab or orange-legged hermit crab, is a brightly colored aquatic hermit crab of the family Diogenidae. Besides its ability to routinely clean algae in aquaria, the halloween hermit crab's festive striped coloration also appeals to enthusiasts; it is considered the most brightly colored hermit crab in normal aquarium use.
Grapsus grapsus is one of the most common crabs along the western coast of the Americas. It is known as the red rock crab, or, along with other crabs such as Percnon gibbesi, as the Sally Lightfoot crab.
Paguristes cadenati, the red reef hermit crab or scarlet hermit crab, is a small species of hermit crab with a bright red body and yellow eyestalks that lives in the Caribbean Sea. The specific name honours the French ichthyologist Jean Cadenat (1908-1992), who collected the type specimen and sent it to the French carcinologist Jacques Forest, who described it as a new species.
Meoma ventricosa, known by the common names cake urchin and red heart urchin, is a large species of sea urchin which lives in shallow waters in the Caribbean. It may reach a diameter of twenty centimeters and is covered in reddish-brown spines. It has both pentagonal radial symmetry and bilateral symmetry, giving it a sand-dollar appearance; however, two of its five sections are merged more closely than the others.
Maguimithrax spinosissimus, also known as the Caribbean king crab, West Indian spider crab, channel clinging crab, reef or spiny spider crab, and coral crab, is a species of spider crab that occurs throughout South Florida and across the Caribbean Islands.
Valonia ventricosa, also known as bubble algae, sea grape, or sailor's eyeballs, is a species of algae found in oceans throughout the world in tropical and subtropical regions, within the phylum Chlorophyta. It is one of the largest known unicellular organisms.
Guinotellus melvillensis is a species of crabs in the family Xanthidae, the only species in the genus Guinotellus. It is a benthic crab with an ovate carapace within the subfamily Euxanthinae.
Pugettia gracilis, commonly known as the graceful kelp crab, is a species of small crab in the family Epialtidae. It lives among forests of kelp on the Pacific coast of North America.
Achaeus japonicus, sometimes known as the orang-utan crab, is a crab of the family Inachidae which can be observed in tropical waters of the central Indo-Pacific.
Lybia tessellata is a species of small crab in the family Xanthidae. It is found in shallow parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. They are found from the east coast of Africa in the Red Sea across Northern Japan and Northern and Eastern Hawaii. 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.
Mithraculus cinctimanus is a species of crab in the family Majidae. It is found in the Caribbean region and is usually associated with a sea anemone, sponge or coral.
Achaeus spinosus is a small decapod which belongs to the large family of the Inachidae or the spider crabs.
Portunus sayi, the sargassum swimming crab, is a species of pelagic crab in the family Portunidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea where it makes its home among floating mats of Sargassum seaweed. It was named in honour of the American naturalist Thomas Say.
Lobophora variegata is a species of small thalloid brown alga which grows intertidally or in shallow water in tropical and warm temperate seas. It has three basic forms, being sometimes ruffled, sometimes reclining and sometimes encrusting, and each form is typically found in a different habitat. This seaweed occurs worldwide. It is the type species of the genus Lobophora, the type locality being the Antilles in the West Indies.
Lauridromia dehaani is a species of crab in the family Dromiidae. It is native to the Red Sea and the western Indo-Pacific. It often carries a piece of sponge on its carapace by way of camouflage, and if unable to find a suitable piece of sponge, carries an empty bivalve shell, a sprig of seaweed or a piece of debris instead.
Saron marmoratus, commonly known as the marbled shrimp, is a species of cleaner shrimp in the family Hippolytidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region but in 2013 it was also found off the coast of Lebanon, probably having reached the Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. It is a popular species in aquaria due to its easy care.
Paguristes puncticeps is a hermit crab, in the family Diogenidae. It is found in shallow waters in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Like other hermit crabs, it lives inside an empty mollusc shell, which it changes periodically as it grows.