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.
| Porcellana sayana | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Family: | Porcellanidae |
| Genus: | Porcellana |
| Species: | P. sayana
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| Binomial name | |
| Porcellana sayana (Leach, 1820)
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| Synonyms [1] | |
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Distribution edit
Porcellana sayana is found along the western coast of the Atlantic Ocean, from Cape Hatteras (United States) to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.[2]
Description edit
Porcellana sayana is 13 millimetres (0.51 in) long,[3] and is red, with numerous whitish spots.[4][2][5] It may be distinguished from other species by the form of the first pereiopod; the carpus (last segment before the claw) of that leg bears a lobe which projects forwards.[2] It has a fringe of setae along the front of its claws, which it uses in filter feeding.[4]
Ecology edit
Porcellana sayana lives in shallow water, at depths of up to 92 metres (302 ft), among rocks and oyster shells, or as a commensal of the hermit crabs Pagurus pollicaris and Petrochirus diogenes.[2] Like another porcelain crab, Petrolisthes galathinus, Porcellana sayana is parasitised by the bopyrid isopod Aporobopyrus curtatus, which lives in the porcelain crab's gill chamber.[3]
Taxonomy edit
Porcellana sayana was first described by William Elford Leach in 1820 as Pisidia sayana.[6] Its common names include "spotted porcelain crab"[2] and "Say's porcellanid".[5]
References edit
- ^ Masayuki Osawa (2010). "Porcellana sayana". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Harriet Perry & Kirsten Larsen (June 4, 2004). "Porcellana sayana (Leach, 1820), spotted porcelain crab" (PDF). A Picture Guide to Shelf Invertebrates from the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
- ^ a b Edward E. Ruppert & Richard S. Fox (1988). "Porcelain crabs". Seashore Animals of the Southeast: a Guide to Common Shallow-water Invertebrates of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 249–250. ISBN 978-0-87249-535-7.
- ^ a b Susan B. Rothschild (2004). "Sandy beaches". Beachcomber's Guide to Gulf Coast Marine Life: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida (3rd ed.). Taylor Trade Publications. pp. 21–38. ISBN 978-1-58979-061-2.
- ^ a b Gilbert L. Voss (2002). "Section Anomura". Seashore Life of Florida and the Caribbean. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 92–95. ISBN 978-0-486-42068-4.
- ^ Masayuki Osawa & Patsy A. McLaughlin (2010). "Annotated checklist of anomuran decapod crustaceans of the world (exclusive of the Kiwaoidea and families Chirostylidae and Galatheidae of the Galatheoidea) Part II – Porcellanidae" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 23: 109–129. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-02.