Rhithropanopeus harrisii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Family: | Panopeidae |
Genus: | Rhithropanopeus Rathbun, 1898 |
Species: | R. harrisii |
Binomial name | |
Rhithropanopeus harrisii | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Pilumnus harrisiiGould, 1841 |
Rhithropanopeus harrisii (common names include the Zuiderzee crab, [2] dwarf crab, [2] estuarine mud crab, [3] Harris mud crab, [3] white-fingered mud crab, [4] and white-tipped mud crab) is a small omnivorous crab native to Atlantic coasts of the Americas, from New Brunswick to Veracruz. [2]
R. harrisii is usually found in brackish water, but can also be found in freshwater. It likes to live on stones and in oyster beds. The crab can reach a maximum size of 20 millimetres (0.8 in). It has an olive-green-brownish color, sometimes with dark spots on its carapace.
It is a common inhabitant of Texas and Florida estuaries, but was later introduced all over the world. [3] In 1937, it was discovered to be invading the San Francisco Bay's brackish waters and adjacent fresh waters of the California Central Valley. [3] It was also recently discovered in the Third Lock Lake in Panama, a man-made lake intended to be a part of the Panama Canal. [5]
R. harrisii was first discovered in Europe in the Zuider Zee, the Netherlands, and is now also found in Denmark, Belgium, Germany, France, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, from the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. [2] [6] [7]
In the British Isles, R. harrisii has only been observed in Roath Docks, Cardiff, which have lower salinity (12‰) than the surrounding waters.
Breeding freshwater populations have been found in the Brazos River basin in Texas, notably the Possum Kingdom State Park and Lake Granbury. Populations have also been discovered in Lake Texoma and Lake E.V. Spence. [8] Its presence in the Baltic Sea is blamed for a negative ecosystem shift. [9]
A record of this species was made in Brazil, but might represent a misidentification. [10]
Hemigrapsus takanoi, the brush-clawed shore crab or Asian shore crab, is a small crab of the family Varunidae that lives on rocky shores surrounding the Pacific Ocean, and which is invasive along the European coastlines. This crab is omnivorous and eats small fish, invertebrates and algae.
Helice tridens is a species of crab which lives on mudflats around the coasts of Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
Potamon fluviatile is a freshwater crab found in or near wooded streams, rivers and lakes in Southern Europe. It is an omnivore with broad ecological tolerances, and adults typically reach 50 mm (2 in) in size during their 10–12 year lifespan. They inhabit burrows and are aggressive, apparently outcompeting native crayfish.
Heterotremata is a clade of crabs, comprising those crabs in which the genital openings are on the sternum in females, but on the legs in males. It comprises 68 families in 28 superfamilies.
Pachygrapsus marmoratus is a species of crab, sometimes called the marbled rock crab or marbled crab, which lives in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is dark violet brown, with yellow marbling, and with a body up to 36 millimetres (1.4 in) long. A semiterrestrial omnivore, it feeds on algae and various animals including mussels and limpets.
Amarinus lacustris is a species of freshwater crab from Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands, where it lives in water of various salinities. It grows up to 10 mm (0.4 in) wide, with an H-shaped groove on its back. It is an omnivore and is eaten by crayfish and fish. It was first discovered in Lake Pupuke, near Auckland, and is the only freshwater crab in New Zealand.
Xantho is a genus of crabs in the family Xanthidae, containing five extant species, all restricted to the north-east Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, although Xantho granulicarpis is not universally recognised as a separate species from Xantho hydrophilus:
The Panopeidae are a family containing 26 genera of morphologically similar crabs, often known as "mud crabs". Their centers of diversity are the Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Dyspanopeus sayi is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North Sea since 2007 and the Black Sea since 2010. It can reach a carapace width of 20 mm (0.8 in), and has black tips to its unequal claws. It feeds on bivalves and barnacles, and is in turn eaten by predators including the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Eggs are produced from spring to autumn, the offspring reach sexual maturity the following summer, and individuals can live for up to two years. The closest relative of D. sayi is D. texanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico; the two species differ in subtle features of the genitalia and the last pair of walking legs.
Around 65 species of crab occur in the waters of the British Isles. All are marine, with the exception of the introduced Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, which occurs in fresh and brackish water. They range in size from the deep-water species Paromola cuvieri, which can reach a claw span of 1.2 metres, to the pea crab, which is only 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and lives inside mussel shells.
Brachynotus sexdentatus is a species of crab in the family Varunidae. It is native to the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, and became established for a time in Swansea Docks. It grows to a maximum carapace width of 18 mm (0.71 in), and lives in shallow water on muddy bottoms.
Syntripsa flavichela is a species of freshwater crab found in Lake Towuti and Lake Mahalona on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Migmathelphusa olivacea is a species of freshwater crab found in Lake Poso on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It is the only species in its genus. It is listed by the IUCN as Endangered, given "its extent of occurrence and area of occupancy is less than 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi)", and its individuals being found in less than five locations. There is also a "decline in the extent and quality of its habitat and it is not found in a protected area". Being found around a lake, "present and future threats to this species include human-induced habitat loss/degradation due to population increases and industrial and agrarian development".
Perisesarma guttatum, the red-claw mangrove crab, is a crab species in the genus Perisesarma and the family Sesarmidae. It is distributed in coastal brackish water habitats of the western Indian Ocean.
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.
Minuca minax, commonly known as the red‐jointed fiddler crab or brackish-water fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab that is found in the United States from Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the most common macroinvertebrates in salt marshes in these states. It prefers areas of lower salinity than other fiddler crabs, and can be found in great numbers along the banks of tidal streams, even at distances greater than 50 km (31 mi) from the sea.
Palaemon macrodactylus is a species of shrimp of the family Palaemonidae.
Crangonyx floridanus is a species of amphipod. Also known as the Florida crangonyx, Crangonyx floridanus is a small omnivorous, freshwater amphipod. These freshwater amphipods originated from North America. They have a high invasion potential due to their high growth rate and wide ecological amplitude. Their growth rates have a substantial effect on local populations of the natural communities. Native populations may be reduced or eliminated by this invading species.
Leptuca subcylindrica, commonly known as the Laguna Madre fiddler crab or the puffed fiddler crab, is a sparsely-studied species of fiddler crab native to southern Texas and northeastern Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico.
Leptuca leptodactyla, commonly known as the thin-fingered fiddler crab or the western Atlantic fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab native to the western Atlantic coast of the Americas.