Mithrax spinosissimus

Last updated

Mithrax spinosissimus
Maguimithrax spinosissimus 220213 a.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Mithracidae
Genus: Maguimithrax
Species:
M. spinosissimus
Binomial name
Maguimithrax spinosissimus
Lamarck, 1818
Synonyms   [1]
  • Damithrax spinosissimus
  • Maia spinosissimus
  • Mithrax spinosissimus

Maguimithrax spinosissimus, [2] also known as the Caribbean king crab, [3] 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. [4] [5]

Contents

Diet

The diet of this crab is largely unknown; however, it is considered a large omnivore that has been noted to feed on algae and carrion. [6] Unlike crabs such as the blue crab, the West Indian spider crab is not commercially harvested for its meat. [4]

Description

Female Mithrax spinosissimus (Channel Clinging Crab - female).jpg
Female

M. spinosissimus has a reddish-brown carapace and walking legs. The claws are smooth, purplish gray, with a single row of nodules along the outer edge, and blunt claw tips. The legs are covered with numerous short spines and nodules. It is the largest native crab species of the Atlantic. It can reach up to 3 kg of weight and a carapace length of 18 cm. [3]

Dorsal and ventral views of two different sized males Dorsal and ventral views of modern male specimens of Maguimithrax spinosissimus that differ in size.png
Dorsal and ventral views of two different sized males

Distribution

M. spinosissimus is found from North Carolina to Venezuela. It inhabits caves and reef underhangs from the shallow intertidal to depths of up to 200 m. [3]

It was made the type species of a separate genus Maguimithrax by Klompmaker et al. (2015). [7]

Human intervention

Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida is spawning the crabs in hopes they will eat algae and benefit coral reefs. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Libinia emarginata</i> Species of crustacean

Libinia emarginata, the portly spider crab, common spider crab or nine-spined spider crab, is a species of stenohaline crab that lives on the Atlantic coast of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pillar coral</span> Species of coral

Pillar coral is a hard coral found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Dendrogyra. It is a digitate coral -that is, it resembles fingers or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor without any secondary branching. It is large and can grow on both flat and sloping surfaces at depths down to 20 m (65 ft). It is one of the few types of hard coral in which the polyps can commonly be seen feeding during the day.

<i>Stenorhynchus seticornis</i> Species of crab

Stenorhynchus seticornis, the yellowline arrow crab or simply arrow crab, is a species of marine crab.

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

The Jonah crab is a marine brachyuran crab that inhabits waters along the east coast of North America from Newfoundland to Florida. Jonah crabs possess a rounded, rough-edged carapace with small light spots, and robust claws with dark brown-black tips. The maximum reported carapace width for males is 222 mm, while females rarely exceed 150 mm. It is the closest relative to the European brown crab in the Western Atlantic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcyonacea</span> Order of octocorals that do not produce massive calcium carbonate skeletons

Alcyonacea are an order of sessile colonial cnidarians that are found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the deep sea, polar waters, tropics and subtropics. Whilst not in a strict taxonomic sense, Alcyonacea are commonly known as soft corals. The term "soft coral" generally applies to organisms in the two orders Pennatulacea and Alcyonacea with their polyps embedded within a fleshy mass of coenenchymal tissue. Consequently, the term "gorgonian coral" is commonly handed to multiple species in the order Alcyonacea that produce a mineralized skeletal axis composed of calcite and the proteinaceous material gorgonin only and corresponds to only one of several families within the formally accepted taxon Gorgoniidae (Scleractinia). These can be found in order Malacalcyonacea (taxonomic synonyms of include : Alcyoniina, Holaxonia, Protoalcyonaria, Scleraxonia, and Stolonifera. They are sessile colonial cnidarians that are found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the deep sea, polar waters, tropics and subtropics. Common names for subsets of this order are sea fans and sea whips; others are similar to the sea pens of related order Pennatulacea. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are normally erect, flattened, branching, and reminiscent of a fan. Others may be whiplike, bushy, or even encrusting. A colony can be several feet high and across, but only a few inches thick. They may be brightly coloured, often purple, red, or yellow. Photosynthetic gorgonians can be successfully kept in captive aquaria.

<i>Panulirus argus</i> Species of crustacean

Panulirus argus, the Caribbean spiny lobster, is a species of spiny lobster that lives on reefs and in mangrove swamps in the western Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Sesarma reticulatum</i> Species of crab

Sesarma reticulatum, the purple marsh crab or simply marsh crab, is a crab species native to the salt marshes of the eastern United States.

<i>Mithraculus sculptus</i> Species of crab

Mithraculus sculptus, the green clinging crab 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawksbill sea turtle</span> Species of reptile

The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus Eretmochelys. The species has a global distribution that is largely limited to tropical and subtropical marine and estuary ecosystems.

<i>Percnon gibbesi</i> Species of crab

Percnon gibbesi is a species of crab. It is one of at least two species commonly called Sally Lightfoot, and is also referred to as the nimble spray crab or urchin crab. It has been described as "the most invasive decapod species to enter the Mediterranean".

<i>Paromola cuvieri</i> Species of crab

Paromola cuvieri is a species of crab in the family Homolidae, the carrier crabs. It occurs in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, from Angola to Norway, the Northern Isles and Iceland. It is demersal, occurring at depths of 10–1,212 metres (33–3,976 ft), but it is primarily found deeper than 80 m (260 ft). It prefers areas with mud and emerging rocks, and has been observed in deep-water coral gardens and sponge aggregations. It is locally common.

<i>Guinotellus</i> Genus of crabs

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.

Libinia ferreirae is a species of tropical spider crab in the family Epialtidae. It is found on the seabed in shallow waters off the Atlantic coast of South America.

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.

Cymo melanodactylus, the furry coral crab, 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.

<i>Dyspanopeus texanus</i> Species of crab

Dyspanopeus texanus is a species of crab known as the Texas mud crab.

<i>Portunus sayi</i> Species of crab

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.

<i>Antillogorgia bipinnata</i> Species of coral

Antillogorgia bipinnata, the bipinnate sea plume, is a species of colonial soft coral, a sea fan in the family Gorgoniidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea. It was first described as Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata in 1864 by the American zoologist Addison Emery Verrill. Williams and Chen (2012), transferred all the Atlantic species of Pseudopterogorgia to Antillogorgia.

<i>Eurypanopeus depressus</i> Species of crab

Eurypanopeus depressus, the flatback mud crab or depressed mud crab, is a true crab belonging to the infraorder Brachyura and the family Panopeidae. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean and is often found in estuaries and lagoons, commonly living in close association with oysters.

<i>Paguristes puncticeps</i> Species of crustacean

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.

References

  1. 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.
  2. WoRMS Editorial Board (2023). "World Register of Marine Species". WoRMS. doi:10.14284/170 . Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Turini, Tassia; Colavite, Jéssica; Bolaños, Juan A.; Hernández, Jesús Enrique; Baeza, Juan Antonio; Santana, William (May 2021). "Larval development of the Caribbean king crab Maguimithrax spinosissimus (Lamarck, 1818), the largest brachyuran in the western Atlantic (Crustacea: Decapoda: Majoidea)". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 101 (3): 577–589. doi:10.1017/S0025315421000515. S2CID   237417648.
  4. 1 2 Wilber, Dara H.; Wilber, T. Payson Jr. (1991). "Environmental influences on the growth and survival of West Indian spider crabs Mithrax spinosissimus in culture". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology . 146 (1): 27–38. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(91)90253-S. S2CID   84979885.
  5. Humann, Paul; DeLoach, Ned (2002). Reef Creature Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas (2nd ed.). Jacksonville, FL: New World Publications. pp. 224–225. ISBN   978-1-878348-31-9.
  6. Wilber, Dara H.; Wilber, T. Payson Jr. (1989). "The effects of holding space and diet on the growth of the West Indian spider crab Mithrax spinosissimus". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology . 131 (3): 215–222. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(89)90113-5. S2CID   84169238.
  7. Klompmaker, Adiël A.; Portell, Roger W.; Klier, Aaron T.; Prueter, Vanessa; Tucker, Alyssa L. (2015). "Spider crabs of the Western Atlantic with special reference to fossil and some modern Mithracidae". PeerJ . 3: e1301. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1301 . PMC   4636416 . PMID   26557432. S2CID   13515540.
  8. Kuizon, Kimberly (12 September 2023). "Mote Marine Laboratory Aquaculture Research Park breeding Caribbean King Crabs to help with coral restoration". WTVT.
  9. Jones, Benji (27 September 2023). "Scientists will unleash an army of crabs to help save Florida's dying reef". Vox . Retrieved 3 October 2023.