Guinusia chabrus

The red rock crab, Guinusia chabrus, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Plagusiidae.[2] It is found in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.[3]

For other uses of "red rock crab", see Red rock crab (disambiguation).

Guinusia chabrus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Infraorder:
Brachyura
Family:
Plagusiidae
Genus:
Guinusia
Species:
G. chabrus
Binomial name
Guinusia chabrus[1]
Synonyms
  • Cancer chabrus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Cancer velutinus Linnaeus, 1764
  • Grapsus capensis De Haan, 1835
  • Plagusia capensis (De Haan, 1835)
  • Plagusia chabrus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Plagusia tomentosus H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
  • Plagusia spinosa MacLeay, 1838
  • Plagusia gaimardi H. Milne-Edwards, 1853

Description

A sturdy square bodied crab with a smooth dark red-brown carapace and yellow longitudinal ridges on the legs, yellow knobs on the pincers. There may be four white spots on the carapace in a roughly semicircular pattern.[4]

Distribution

Southern Africa: Luderitz to Sodwana Bay, Subtidal to at least 100m.[4]

Ecology

Common on reefs. Often seen in crevices or hiding under other benthic organisms. Scavenger.[4]

With Haliotis midae it makes up the favoured diet of Octopus vulgaris in False Bay, South Africa.[5]

References
  1. Peter Davie (2012). "Guinusia chabrus (Linnaeus, 1758)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  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.
  3. "Plagusia chabrus, red rock crab, (Plagusia capensis)". SeaFriends. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  4. Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. It is also found in the intertidal zone, such as a rocky shore environment in New Zealand and Australia ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9
  5. C. D. Smith (2003). "Diet of Octopus vulgaris in False Bay, South Africa". Marine Biology. 143 (6): 1127–1133. doi:10.1007/s00227-003-1144-2.


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