| Neohelice granulata | |
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| Genus: | Neohelice K. Sakai, Türkay & Yang, 2006 |
| Species: | N. granulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Neohelice granulata | |
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Neohelice granulata is a species of crab in the family Varunidae, and the only species in the genus Neohelice. [1] In 2009, it was estimated that N. granulata was the sixth most studied species of crab.
Neohelice is found in the south-western Atlantic Ocean, from the Laguna Araruama in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil to the Golfo San José (on the north side of the Valdes Peninsula in Patagonia, Argentina). [2] The diet of Neohelice in the wild most consists of sediment, Spartina and plant-derived detritus. [3]
The first report of Neohelice was probably that made by Alcide d'Orbigny during an expedition to South America between 1826 and 1834. He included details of the crab's ecology, including their burrows, but did not name the species. The first person to describe the species taxonomically was James Dwight Dana, who named it Chasmagnathus granulatus in his 1851 work reporting the results of the United States Exploring Expedition (also known as the "Wilkes expedition"). [2] In 1918, Mary J. Rathbun redescribed the species under the modified name "Chasmagnathus granulata", which remained in occasional use along Dana's name until 2006, when Katushi Sakai, Michael Türkay and Si-Liang Yang revised the genera Helice and Chasmagnathus . They restricted both genera to those species occurring in East Asia, and erected a new genus for C. granulatus, which thus became Neohelice granulata, as well as the genera Austrohelice and Pseudohelice . [2]
Neohelice granulata has emerged since the 1980s as a model species in a variety of biological fields. Much of the scientific research has focused on the species' tolerance of both fresh water and brine (euryhalinity) and its semiterrestrial habit. [2] It has also been investigated for research into neurophysiology, neurobiology of learning and memory, [4] toxicology and ecosystem dynamics. Such breadth of study is unusual for a model organism. [2] In 2009, Eduardo Spivak tallied the number of scientific papers published about different crab species over the previous 23 years, and found that Neohelice granulata was the sixth most studied crab species, after Carcinus maenas , Callinectes sapidus , Scylla serrata , Cancer pagurus and Metacarcinus magister , but ahead of the invasive and edible Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) and the commercially important "snow crab", Chionoecetes opilio . [2]
Ghost crabs are semiterrestrial crabs of the subfamily Ocypodinae. They are common shore crabs in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, inhabiting deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The name "ghost crab" derives from their nocturnality and their generally pale coloration. They are also sometimes called sand crabs, though the name refers to various other crabs that do not belong to the subfamily.
Xanthidae is a family of crabs known as gorilla crabs, mud crabs, pebble crabs or rubble crabs. Xanthid crabs are often brightly coloured and are highly venomous, containing toxins which are not destroyed by cooking and for which no antidote is known. The toxins are similar to the tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin produced by puffer fish, and may be produced by bacteria in the genus Vibrio living in symbiosis with the crabs, mostly V. alginolyticus and V. parahaemolyticus.
Ocypode is a genus of ghost crabs found in the sandy shores of tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. They have a box-like body, thick and elongated eyestalks, and one claw is larger than the other in both males and females. They inhabit deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are primarily nocturnal, and are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The genus contains 21 species.
The Bythograeidae are a small family of blind crabs which live around hydrothermal vents. The family contains 16 species in six genera. Their relationships to other crabs are unclear. They are believed to eat bacteria and other vent organisms. Bythograeidae are a monophyletic, sister taxon of the superfamily Xanthoidea which split to inhabit hydrothermal vents around the Eocene.
Thalassina is a genus of mud lobsters found in the mangrove swamps of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Its nocturnal burrowing is important for the recycling of nutrients in the mangrove ecosystem, although it is sometimes considered a pest of fish and prawn farms.
Sesarma is a genus of terrestrial crabs endemic to the Americas.
The Varunidae are a family of thoracotrematan crabs. The delimitation of this family, part of the taxonomically confusing Grapsoidea, is undergoing revision. For a long time, they were placed at the rank of subfamily in the Grapsidae, but they appear to be closest to Macropthalmus and the Mictyridae, which are usually placed in the Ocypodoidea. It may thus be better to merge the latter superfamily with the Grapsoidea, retaining the latter name as it is older.
Chasmagnathus convexus is a common mud-flat crab of the family Varunidae, which is endemic to East Asia. In Japan, this crab is commonly called hamagani. This crab has two forms that differ in color; one is olive green and the other is purple. Differences in diet are believed to be responsible for the color variation between the two forms. C. convexus is large, relative to related crabs, and can reach 4.5 to 5 centimetres wide across its carapace. It is predominantly nocturnal.
Helice tridens is a species of crab which lives on mudflats around the coasts of Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
The Plagusiidae are a family of crabs, formerly treated as a subfamily of the family Grapsidae, but have since been considered sufficiently distinct to be a family in their own right. The family Plagusiidae includes the subfamily Plagusiinae, comprising the genera Percnon and Plagusia, which constitute a widespread group of litophilic, intertidal and subtidal crabs that are notorious for their speed and their agility.
Hemigrapsus is a genus of varunid crabs comprising thirteen species native almost exclusively in the Pacific Ocean, but two have been introduced to the North Atlantic region.
Ebalia is a genus of crab in the family Leucosiidae.
Planes minutus is a species of pelagic crab that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is typically less than 10 mm (0.4 in) long across the back, and is variable in colouration, to match its background. It may have been the crab seen by Christopher Columbus on Sargassum weed in the Sargasso Sea in 1492.
Pseudohelice subquadrata is a species of crab in the family Varunidae. It is found from the eastern Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean, north to Japan, south to Eastern Australia, east to French Polynesia, west to Indonesia and Thailand. It lives near mangroves, burrowing in firm soils, firm muddy sand or loose stones. Burrows are towards or above the high tide line on shores of estuaries and near river mouths of bays, and can have offshoots horizontal beneath the surface as long as three metres.
Helopgrapsus haswellianus or Haswell’s shore crab, is the sole species of crab in the genus Helograpsus. It lives in river mouths and bays on the eastern coast of Australia. The carapace is strongly convex with one distinct notch behind the eye. Adult males have larger claws than adult females. The carapace is olive, dark slate grey or reddish. Claws of adult males are orange-yellow. Carapace size is up to 30 mm wide. The orange color is stronger when these crabs live in habitat with lower pollution levels.
Paragrapsus is a genus of crabs from South Eastern Australia, containing the following species:
Pseudohelice annamalai is a species of crab in the family Varunidae, which is reported from the Indian Ocean at the mangroves of Parangipettai near the Vellar River estuary in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu.
Pseudohelice is a genus of crabs, containing three species:
Helicana is a genus of crabs, containing three species:
Parahelice is a genus of crabs, containing five species: