Scorpion spider crab
| Scorpion spider crab | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Inachidae |
| Genus: | Inachus |
| Species: | I. dorsettensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Inachus dorsettensis (Pennant, 1777) | |
Inachus dorsettensis, commonly known as the scorpion spider crab, is a species of crab generally found on loose substrates (stony bottoms to mud) from 6 metres (20 ft) depth down to about 100 m (330 ft).[1]
Description
They are usually seen covered with sponge which they apply themselves. The carapace of a fully grown male is roughly 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long and slightly narrower than it is long.[1][2]
Inachus dorsettensis resembles the closely related species Inachus phalangium, but has more prominent spines on the carapace.[1] They molt, with the intermolting period being shorter the warmer the water they reside in is.[3]
Distribution
Scorpion spider crab is found along the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to South Africa, and also in the Mediterranean Sea.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d P. J. Hayward; M. J. Isaac; P. Makings; J. Moyse; E. Naylor & G. Smaldon (1995). "Crustaceans". In P. J. Hayward & John Stanley Ryland (eds.). Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-west Europe. Oxford University Press. pp. 289–461. ISBN 978-0-19-854055-7.
- ^ "When is the stone crab season?". Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ^ R.G. Hartnoll; A.D. Bryant (2001). Growth to maturity of juveniles of the spider crabs Hyas coarctatus Leach and Inachus dorsettensis. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. doi:10.1016/S0022-0981(01)00303-3.