Hepatus epheliticus

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Hepatus epheliticus
Hepatus epheliticus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Aethridae
Genus: Hepatus
Species:
H. epheliticus
Binomial name
Hepatus epheliticus
Synonyms [1]
  • Cancer epheliticusLinnaeus, 1763
  • Cancer decorusHerbst, 1803
  • Cancer vanbenedeniiHerklots, 1852

Hepatus epheliticus, known by various names, including the calico crab (not to be confused with Ovalipes ocellatus ) and Dolly Varden crab, is a species of crab. It lives in shallow water in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Chesapeake Bay to the Dominican Republic. It has a 3-inch (76 mm)–wide carapace adorned with large red spots with darker outlines.

Description

Hepatus epheliticus grows to 3 inches (76 mm) across the carapace, [2] which is covered in large patches of red color, which may join up into lines or other patterns. [3] The spots are outlined in a darker color; in some crabs, only the darker rings are visible. [4]

Distribution

The range of H. epheliticus extends from the Chesapeake Bay southwards, including the whole of the Gulf of Mexico, and as far south as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. [3]

Ecology and life cycle

Hepatus epheliticus lives at depths of up to 46 m (151 ft) on sandy and muddy substrates. [3] It often carries the sea anemone Calliactis tricolor on its back, [5] or lies buried in the sand, with only its eyes exposed. [6]

Reproduction occurs in summer, as shown by the occurrence of "berried" (egg-bearing) females. [5] The eggs are held by the female until they hatch; there are five planktonic zoea stages. [7]

Taxonomy

Hepatus epheliticus was first described, under the name Cancer epheliticus, by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 work Centuria Insectorum , [8] based on specimens from Carolina sent to him by Alexander Garden. [9] Subjective synonyms of H. epheliticus include Cancer decorus, published by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1803, and Cancer vanbenedenii, published by Jan Adrian (or Janus Adrianus) Herklots in 1852. [1]

Hepatus epheliticus is known by several common names, including calico box crab, [3] calico crab, [4] Gulf calico crab, [6] and Dolly Varden crab. [4]

Related Research Articles

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Ovalipes ocellatus, known as the lady crab, is a species of crab from eastern North America. Other names for it include the leopard crab or Atlantic leopard crab due to the leopard-like rosette patterns on its shell, the calico crab, or ocellated crab. It has a shell 3 in (7.6 cm) long and only slightly wider, which is covered in clusters of purple spots. It occurs from Canada to Georgia, and lives mainly on molluscs, such as the Atlantic surf clam.

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

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<i>Cancer pagurus</i> Species of crustacean

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

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<i>Metacarcinus anthonyi</i> Species of crustacean

Metacarcinus anthonyi, the yellow rock crab or yellow crab, is a species of edible crab native to the Pacific coast of North America.

<i>Metacarcinus gracilis</i> Species of crab

The graceful rock crab or slender crab, Metacarcinus gracilis or Cancer gracilis, is one of only two members of the genus Metacarcinus, recognized by WoRMS, whose chelae (claws) are white tipped, the other crab being M. magister. Both of these eastern Pacific crab species are recognized by ITIS as belonging to the much larger genus Cancer. M. gracilis has been caught from Alaska to Bahía Magdelena, Baja California. Although M. gracilis is only found in the Pacific Ocean, it has cousins in the Atlantic Ocean. The genus Cancer apparently evolved in the Pacific Ocean and later migrated to the Atlantic Ocean. Larvae and small juveniles of this species are often seen riding jellyfish, especially Phacellophora camtschatica. The juvenile crabs steal food from the jellyfish and also clean off parasitic amphipods.

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

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

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

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Varden (costume)</span>

A Dolly Varden, in this sense, is a woman's outfit fashionable from about 1869 to 1875 in Britain and the United States. It is named after a character in Charles Dickens, and the items of clothing referred to are usually a hat or dress.

<i>Centuria Insectorum</i> Book by Carl Linnaeus

Centuria Insectorum is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should for taxonomic purposes be credited with its authorship has been the subject of some controversy. It includes descriptions of 102 new insect and crustacean species that had been sent to Linnaeus from British America, Suriname, Java and other locations. Most of the new names included in Centuria Insectorum are still in use, although a few have been sunk into synonymy, and one was the result of a hoax: a common brimstone butterfly with spots painted on was described as the new "species" Papilio ecclipsis.

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<i>Homola barbata</i> Species of crab

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Tumidotheres maculatus is a species of crab that lives commensally or parasitically in the mantle cavity of molluscs. It is found along much of the western Atlantic Ocean and was first described by Thomas Say in 1818.

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<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>Anasimus latus</i> Species of crab

Anasimus latus is a species of crab in the family Inachoididae.

<i>Loxothylacus panopaei</i> Species of barnacle

Loxothylacus panopaei is a species of barnacle in the family Sacculinidae. It is native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It is a parasitic castrator of small mud crabs in the family Panopeidae, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Hepatus pudibundus</i> Species of crab

Hepatus pudibundus, the flecked box crab, is a crab from the class Malacostraca. They are found in the Atlantic Ocean with Brazil having a dense population of H. pudibundus, as they are one of the most commonly seen crabs in the country. Many of the studies done on H. pudibubus have occurred in the Ubatuba region of Brazil, where there is a rapid expansion of tourism that is affecting marine ecosystems.

References

  1. 1 2 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. Edward E. Ruppert & Richard S. Fox (1988). "Box crabs". Seashore animals of the Southeast: a guide to common shallow-water invertebrates of the southeastern Atlantic Coast. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 252–253. ISBN   978-0-87249-535-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Harriet Perry & Kirsten Larsen (April 2, 2004). "A Picture Guide to Shelf Invertebrates from the Northern Gulf of Mexico" (PDF). Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Gilbert L. Voss (2002). "Calico crab, Dolly Varden crab" . Seashore Life of Florida and the Caribbean. Dover pictorial archive series. Courier Dover Publications. pp.  98. ISBN   978-0-486-42068-4.
  5. 1 2 Susan B. Rothschild (2004). "Crabs". Beachcomber's Guide to Gulf Coast Marine Life: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida (3rd ed.). Taylor Trade Publications. pp. 30–31. ISBN   978-1-58979-061-2.
  6. 1 2 Eugene H. Kaplan (1999). A Field Guide to Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores: Cape Hatteras to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Caribbean. Peterson Field Guides (2nd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-395-97516-9.
  7. Maria L. Negreiros-Fransozo; Adilson Fransozo & Gustavo L. Hirose (2008). "The megalopa and early juvenile development of Hepatus pudibundus (Crustacea: Brachyura: Aethroidea) reared from neuston samples". Revista Brasileira de Zoologia . 25 (4): 608–616. doi: 10.1590/S0101-81752008000400005 . hdl: 11449/19286 .
  8. Gilberto Rodriguez (1993). "From Oviedo to Rathbun: The development of brachyuran crab taxonomy in the Neotropics (1535–1937)". In Frank Truesdale (ed.). History of carcinology. Volume 8 of Crustacean Issues. CRC Press. pp. 41–73. ISBN   978-90-5410-137-6.
  9. Carl Linnaeus (1763). Centuria Insectorum Rariorum (PDF) (in Latin). Uppsala. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28.