Xantho hydrophilus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Xantho hydrophilus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Xanthidae
Genus: Xantho
Species:
X. hydrophilus
Binomial name
Xantho hydrophilus
(Herbst, 1790)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cancer floridus Montagu, 1808
  • Cancer hydrophilus Herbst, 1790
  • Cancer incisus Leach, 1814
  • Xantho incisus (Leach, 1814)

Xantho hydrophilus, the furrowed crab or Montagu's crab, is a species of crab from the family Xanthidae. It is yellowish-brown and grows to a carapace width of 70 mm (2.8 in). It is a nocturnal omnivore that lives in shallow marine waters from western Scotland to the Cape Verde Islands.

Description

The

chelae, which are black.[2] X. hydrophilus closely resembles X. pilipes,[3] from which it can be distinguished by the absence of fringes of setae on the second to fifth pairs of pereiopods (walking legs).[2] Other key identification features are that the second to fourth pairs of antero-lateral lobes are separated from each other by an inward pointing, wide and shallow depression, the postero-lateral margins of the carapace are bristly and the inner surfaces of the propodus has a broad, longitudinal pitted cavity.[4]

Ecology

Xantho hydrophilus lives under stones on sandy and stony beaches,[2] below the intertidal zone, up to a depth of 40 metres (130 ft),[3] although it can be found in rock pools at low tide.[5] It is an omnivore which feeds chiefly on various algae, but also scavenges [2] and is mostly active at night.[6] When disturbed it spreads out its large chelipeds to make itself seem bigger.[5]

Mating takes place in spring, and the females carry the fertilised

larvae can be found in the plankton over most of the summer.[2]

Distribution

Xantho hydrophilus is found from the Mediterranean Sea, the Cape Verde Islands, the Azores and the Canary Islands in the south,[3] north to the western and southern coasts of the British Isles, reaching its northern limit in western Scotland.[2]

Taxonomy

The populations in the Mediterranean Sea have been recognised as a separate taxon, initially as the subspecies Xantho hydrophilus granulimanus, but also as the species Xantho granulimanus.[7][8] However, other work has shown that while the populations in the north-eastern Atlantic (Brittany) and eastern Mediterranean (Greece) show wide genetic differentiation, populations in the south eastern Atlantic (Portugal) and the western Mediterranean (Ibiza) are intermediate suggesting gene flow between the different parts of the range. These authors do not recognise Xantho hydrophilus granulimanus as a separate taxon, regarding X. hydrophilus as a monotypic species.[9]

Nomenclature

Xantho hydrophilus was first described by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1790, under the name Cancer hydrophilus. It was later described under the name Cancer floridus by George Montagu (1808) and under the name Cancer incisus by William Elford Leach (1814).[1] Confusingly, it has also been referred to by names of other taxa, such as Xantho poressa and Xantho pilipes.[6]

A crab species from the Indo-Pacific was described in 1834 as "Xantho incisus" by Henri Milne-Edwards; that species is now known as Lophozozymus incisus.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b DecaNet (2023). "Xantho hydrophilus (Herbst, 1790)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-46819-0
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-854055-7
    .
  4. ^ a b c "Furrowed Crab Xantho hydrophilus". UK Wildlife. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Montagu's Crab". Wembury Marine Centre. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-3-9812553-0-0
    .
  7. doi:10.1163/156854008X360798
    .
  8. ^
    Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
    . 17: 1–286.
  9. doi:10.1007/s00227-005-0095-1
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xantho_hydrophilus&oldid=1192415999"