Petrolisthes armatus

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Petrolisthes armatus
Scientific classification
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P. armatus
Binomial name
Petrolisthes armatus
(Gibbes, 1850) [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Petrolisthes armatus var. pallidusVerrill, 1908
  • Petrolisthes iheringiOrtmann, 1897
  • Petrolisthes similisHenderson, 1888
  • Porcellana gundlachiiGuérin-Méneville, 1855
  • Porcellana leporinaHeller, 1862

Petrolisthes armatus, the green porcelain crab, is a species of small porcelain crab in the family Porcellanidae. It is believed to be native to Brazil but has spread to other parts of the world. Populations in the south eastern part of the United States have increased dramatically and the species is considered to be an invasive species.

Contents

Taxonomy

Although superficially resembling true crabs, porcelain crabs are sometimes known as half-crabs and are in the infra-order Anomura and thus more closely related to squat lobsters than to crabs. [2] Because of its wide geographical range, several authors have questioned whether Petrolisthes armatus is a single species or a species complex. [3] It has been suggested that there are three separate lineages, one from the warm-temperate Atlantic region, one from the Caribbean and one from the eastern Pacific. Research using mitochondrial DNA to study the genetic variability of Petrolisthes armatus has led to the conclusion that it is monophyletic, a single species with an exceptionally wide range. In fact, specimens from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Ecuador were found to be more closely related to those in the Gulf of Mexico than to individuals in other parts of the Pacific. [3]

Description

The carapace of Petrolisthes armatus is roughly oval with a bluntly pointed front, and is granulated and covered with shallow, narrow ridges. P. armatus has two long chelipeds with chelae (pincers), three pairs of walking legs and a vestigial fourth pair. The chelipeds are composed of four rather than five segments and the chelae are long and have a distinctive orange spot that becomes visible when they are parted. The antennae, which have a spine on the first segment, are set outside the stalked eyes. This is characteristic of porcelain crabs, and is in contrast to most families of crabs, where they are set between the eyes. Petrolisthes armatus is a very small species, varying in length between 6 and 8 mm (0.24 and 0.31 in) with a weight of about 0.5 g (0.02 oz). The colour is generally brown or dark olive-green. Juveniles tend to be paler and mottled. The mouthparts sometimes have bright blue portions and the whole animal is occasionally bright blue. [2] [4] [5]

Distribution and habitat

Petrolisthes armatus is believed to have originated off the coast of Brazil, although this is not certain. [2] However, by the 1930s, it was known off the east coast of Florida, and it has spread since then to the whole of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. It is also known from the tropical west African coast, Ascension Island, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the West Indies, and the tropical Atlantic coast of South America. [2] It also occurs in the eastern Pacific, from the Baja California Peninsula southwards to Peru, and has been known from the coast of Panama since 1859, before the Panama Canal was constructed. [6] Its depth range is from the lower intertidal zone to the shallow subtidal zone and it lives on rock rubble, oyster beds, [5] soft sediments, and mangroves. [2]

On the South Carolina and Georgia coasts, it has become very numerous, with densities as high as 30,000 individuals per square metre (2,800 per square foot) having been recorded. [2] It is causing concern because of its impact on the local environment, the fact that it competes with native species, and the concern that it may affect shellfish production in oyster beds. [2] It seems likely that the larvae of Petrolisthes armatus have been carried to new locations in ballast water, or it may have been introduced during the seeding of oyster or other shellfish beds during aquaculture procedures. [7]

Biology

Petrolisthes armatus is primarily a filter feeder. It has large feathery mouthparts with which it snares zooplankton, and other smaller mouthparts transfer the particles to its mouth. It is also a scavenger, feeding on any animal remains it finds on the seabed. It sometimes forms symbiotic relationships with other invertebrates, such as sponges. When it does this, it positions itself so that the water current produced by the sponge passes its own feeding apparatus where it can intercept food particles. [8]

After mating, the female stores spermatophores until her eggs are mature. When the eggs have been fertilised, the female retains them under her tail flap which is folded underneath her body. Here, they are aerated by the pleopods (swimming legs) until they are ready to hatch. The larvae are planktonic and there are two zoeal larval stages and one megalopal stage. When they are ready to undergo metamorphosis, the larvae settle on the sea bed, possibly attracted to a particular location by pheromones released by other species. The females may become sexually mature when only 3 mm (0.12 in) in length. [5] [7]

Petrolisthes armatus is frequently parasitised by the isopod Aporobopyrus curtatus . Up to 17% of individuals have been found to be infected, and up to six isopods have been found per host, but more usually a single pair of immature or mature isopods. Infestation by a juvenile isopod occurs at an early age and host and parasite grow synchronously. The isopod is present in both male and female porcelain crabs, but not usually in egg-carrying females. The effect of the parasitism is to castrate the host but the porcelain crab's growth is unaffected. The low prevalence of the infestation favours both the host and the parasite. [9]

Related Research Articles

Decapoda Order of crustaceans

The Decapoda or decapods are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns, and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp and Anomura including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossil decapod is the Devonian Palaeopalaemon.

Isopoda Order of arthropods

Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that are used in respiration. Females brood their young in a pouch under their thorax.

Squat lobster

Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, with one species occupying caves above sea level. More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are commercially fished.

Porcelain crab family of crustaceans

Porcelain crabs are decapod crustaceans in the widespread family Porcellanidae, which superficially resemble true crabs. They have flattened bodies as an adaptation for living in rock crevices. They are delicate, readily losing limbs when attacked, and use their large claws for maintaining territories. They first appeared in the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic epoch, 145-152 million years ago.

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

Portunus armatus, also known as the flower crab, blue crab, blue swimmer crab, blue manna crab or sand crab, rajungan in Indonesian, and alimasag in Tagalog, Kapampangan, and Pangasinan, is a large crab found in the intertidal estuaries around most of Australia and east to New Caledonia.

Pea crab Species of crab

The pea crab, Pinnotheres pisum, is a small crab in the family Pinnotheridae that lives as a parasite in oysters, clams, mussels, and other species of bivalves.

<i>Petrolisthes</i> Genus of crustaceans

Petrolisthes is a genus of marine porcelain crabs, containing these extant species:

<i>Petrolisthes elongatus</i> Species of crustacean

Petrolisthes elongatus, known as the New Zealand half crab, elongated porcelain crab, blue half crab, blue false crab or simply as the half crab or false crab, is a species of porcelain crab native to New Zealand.

<i>Pagurus longicarpus</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus longicarpus, the long-wristed hermit crab, is a common hermit crab found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States and the Atlantic coast of Canada.

<i>Notomithrax ursus</i> Species of crab

Notomithrax ursus, known as the hairy seaweed crab, is a spider crab of the family Majidae.

<i>Oedignathus</i> Genus of crustaceans

Oedignathus inermis is a species of king crab found off the Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, from California to Alaska, and disjunctly around the coasts of Japan. It is the only species in the genus Oedignathus, and is sometimes called the granular claw crab, paxillose crab or tuberculate nestling lithode crab.

<i>Goneplax rhomboides</i> Species of crab

Goneplax rhomboides is a species of crab. It is known by the common name angular crab because of its angular carapace. Although it is also called the square crab, its shell is in fact more trapezoidal than square. This species is also known as the mud-runner because they are able to run away quickly when threatened.

Crustacean larva

Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. The larvae of crustaceans often bear little resemblance to the adult, and there are still cases where it is not known what larvae will grow into what adults. This is especially true of crustaceans which live as benthic adults, more-so than where the larvae are planktonic, and thereby easily caught.

<i>Pisidia longicornis</i> Species of crustacean

Pisidia longicornis, the long-clawed porcelain crab, is a species of porcelain crab that lives in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean. It varies from reddish to white, and grows to a carapace width of 1 cm (0.4 in). It was first named by Carl Linnaeus in 1767, although the etymology remains unclear.

<i>Petrolisthes eriomerus</i> Species of crustacean

Petrolisthes eriomerus is a species of marine porcelain crab found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the flattop crab. It is a flattened, rounded animal, with a carapace up to 20 mm (0.8 in) across. It is a filter feeder, and also sweeps food from rocks.

<i>Allopetrolisthes spinifrons</i> species of porcelain crab

Allopetrolisthes spinifrons is a species of porcelain crab. It displays "hypercarcinisation", whereby the resemblance to a true crab is enhanced by sexual dimorphism of the abdomen. It lives along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile, as a symbiont of a sea anemone.

<i>Porcellana sayana</i> Species of crustacean

Porcellana sayana is a species of porcelain crab that lives in the western Atlantic Ocean, often as a commensal of hermit crabs. It is red with white spots, and has a characteristic bulge behind each claw.

<i>Lybia tessellata</i> Species of crab

Lybia tessellata is a species of small crab in the family Xanthidae. It is found in shallow parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. Like other members of the genus Lybia, it is commonly known as the pom-pom 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.

Petrolisthes novaezelandiae, known as the red half crab or red false crab, is a species of porcelain crab native to New Zealand.

<i>Lophopanopeus bellus</i> Species of crab

Lophopanopeus bellus, the black-clawed crab, is a species of crab in the family Panopeidae. It is native to the Pacific coasts of North America, its range extending from Alaska to California.

References

  1. 1 2 Osawa, Masayuki (2013). "Petrolisthes armatus (Gibbes, 1850)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fofonoff, P. W.; Ruiz, G.M.; Steves, B.; Carlton, J. T. (2003). "Petrolisthes armatus". National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  3. 1 2 Mantelatto, Fernando L.; Pileggi, Leonardo G.; Miranda, Ivana; Wehrtmann, Ingo S. (2011). "Does Petrolisthes armatus (Anomura, Porcellanidae) form a species complex or are we dealing with just one widely distributed species?" (PDF). Zoological Studies . 50: 372–384.
  4. Simmons, Dawn. "Green Porcelain Crab (Petrolisthes armatus)". Marine Invertebrates of Bermuda. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  5. 1 2 3 Masterson, J. (2007-10-05). "Petrolisthes armatus: green porcelain crab". Species report. Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  6. Gore, R. H.; Abele, L. G. (1976). "Shallow water porcelain crabs from the Pacific coast of Panama and adjacent Caribbean waters (Crustacea, Anomura, Porcellanidae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology . 237 (237): 21. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.237.
  7. 1 2 Knott, David M.; King, Rachael A. "Petrolisthes armatus - an introduced species in the South Atlantic Bight?". South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. Baeza, J. A. (2007). "The origins of symbiosis as a lifestyle in marine crabs (Genus Petrolisthes) from the eastern Pacific: does interspecific competition play a role?". Revista de Biologia Marina y Oceanografia . 42: 7–21. doi: 10.4067/s0718-19572007000100002 .
  9. Oliveira, E.; Masunari, S. (1998). "Population relationships between the parasite Aporobopyrus curtatus (Richardson, 1904) (Isopoda: Bopyridae) and one of its porcelain crab hosts Petrolisthes armatus (Gibbes, 1850) (Decapoda: Porcellanidae) from Farol Island, southern Brazil". Journal of Natural History . 32 (10–11): 1707–1717. doi:10.1080/00222939800771221.