Percnon gibbesi | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Family: | Percnidae |
Genus: | Percnon |
Species: | P. gibbesi |
Binomial name | |
Percnon gibbesi | |
Synonyms | |
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Percnon gibbesi is a species of crab. [1] [3] It is one of at least two species commonly called Sally Lightfoot (the other being the semi-terrestrial Grapsus grapsus from the Pacific coast of the Americas), and is also referred to as the nimble spray crab [2] or urchin crab. [4] It has been described as "the most invasive decapod species to enter the Mediterranean". [3]
Adults have a carapace 30 millimetres (1.2 in) wide, and legs with yellow rings at the joints. [5] Each of the five pairs of walking legs has a row of spines along the leading edge. [5] Females carrying eggs have been caught off West Africa between February and April and August; the larvae which hatch from them are planktonic and long-lived, which may contribute to the species' invasiveness. [5]
The genus Percnon is currently placed in the family Percnidae, [1] although it has also been placed in Plagusiidae. [2] [6]
P. gibbesi is one of the most widespread grapsid crabs, being found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and on the Pacific coast of North America. There, its range extends from California to Chile, while in the Atlantic, it occurs natively from Florida to Brazil and from Madeira to the Gulf of Guinea. [5] It has recently invaded the Mediterranean Sea, having first been discovered at Linosa, Sicily in 1999. [7] It has subsequently been found on the Balearic Islands, in Greece, in Libya in Malta and in Israel. [8]
Unusually among temperate crabs, P. gibbesi is strictly herbivorous. [9] In the Caribbean Sea, P. gibbesi is associated with the sea urchin Diadema antillarum . [10] In the Mediterranean Sea, P. gibbesi lives almost exclusively among boulders, and is out-competed by the native species Pachygrapsus marmoratus . [11] P. gibbesi is preyed upon by fish and invertebrates. [5]
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.
The Grapsidae are a family of crabs known variously as marsh crabs, shore crabs, or talon crabs. The family has not been confirmed to form a monophyletic group and some taxa may belong in other families. They are found along the shore among rocks, in estuaries, marshes, and in some cases pelagic among drifting seaweeds and flotsam.
Hemigrapsus sexdentatus, also called the “common rock crab” or “common shore crab,” is a marine crab indigenous to the southern shores of New Zealand. This crab is a member of the Varunidae family in the order Decapoda.
The Smooth Shore Crab is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Grapsidae, found in New Zealand and the Juan Fernández Islands of Chile.
Leptograpsus variegatus, known as the purple rock crab, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Grapsidae, found in southern subtropical Indo-Pacific Oceans. It grows to around 50 millimetres (2.0 in) shell width. It is the only species in the genus Leptograpsus.
Charybdis is a genus of swimming crabs in the family Portunidae. It is named after the monster Charybdis of Greek mythology.
Discoplax is a genus of terrestrial crabs. It is very closely related to the genus Cardisoma.
The Sesarmidae are a family of crabs, previously included in the Grapsidae by many authors. Several species, namely in Geosesarma, Metopaulias, and Sesarma, are true terrestrial crabs. They do not need to return to the sea even for breeding.
Pilumnoidea is a superfamily of crabs, whose members were previously included in the Xanthoidea. The three families are unified by the free articulation of all the segments of the male crab's abdomen and by the form of the gonopods. The earliest fossils assigned to this group are of Eocene age.
Percnon is a genus of crabs in the family Percnidae. It has also been included in the family Plagusiidae as subfamily Percninae.
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.
Leucosiidae is a family of crabs containing three subfamilies and a number of genera incertae sedis:
Echinoecus is a genus of crabs that live in association with sea urchins. Formerly considered monotypic, the genus is now thought to contain three species:
Geograpsus lividus is a species of crab in the family Grapsidae. Little research has been conducted on this species. It was originally classified as belonging to the genus Grapsus; however, this name is no longer used.
Actea savignii is a species of Indo-Pacific crab from the family Xanthidae which is one of the spiny-legged rock crabs. It has colonised the Levantine Sea by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea since the mid 2000s.
Charybdis longicollis, the lesser swimming crab, is a species of crab from the swimming crab family, the Portunidae. It has a native range which covers the north-western Indian Ocean and it has invaded the Mediterranean Sea by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal.
Armases is a genus of true crabs in the family Sesarmidae. There are about 13 described species in Armases.
Grapsus tenuicrustatus, commonly known as thin-shelled rock crab or Natal lightfoot crab, is a species of decapod crustacean in the family Grapsidae.