Callinectes arcuatus is a species of swimming crab in the genus Callinectes that lives along the Pacific coast of Central America.

Callinectes arcuatus
Callinectes arcuatus in the Gulf of California
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Portunidae
Genus: Callinectes
Species:
C. arcuatus
Binomial name
Callinectes arcuatus
Ordway, 1863

Distribution and ecology

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C. arcuatus is found along the Pacific coast of North and Central America from Mexico southwards.[1] Its diet comprises fish, molluscs, shrimp and plant matter.[2] Occasionally, populations become established in bays in southern California, which are thought to represent single cohorts transported as larvae; these populations typically die out within a few years.[1]

Fishery

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A small fishery for this species is carried out in Costa Rica, run by 10–15 fishermen in the Golfo de Nicoya.[3] The fishery is subject to a maximum of 1600 traps, but the size of caught males was already decreasing in 2009, and the market appeared to be saturated.[3]

Taxonomy

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Callinectes arcuatus was described in 1863 by Albert Ordway in his monograph of the genus Callinectes, using material collected at Cape St. Lucas.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Edwin Grosholz (2011). "Crabs". In Daniel Simberloff & Marcel Rejmánek (ed.). Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions. Encyclopedias of the Natural World. University of California Press. pp. 125–128. ISBN 978-0-520-26421-2.
  2. ^ J. R. Cantera & J. F. Blanco (2001). "The estuary ecosystem of Buenaventura Bay, Colombia". In Ulrich Seeliger & Björn Kjerfve (ed.). Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America. Ecological Studies: Analysis and Synthesis. Vol. 144. Springer. pp. 265–280. ISBN 978-3-540-67228-9.
  3. ^ a b Jorge Cortés & Ingo S. Wehrtmann (2009). "Diversity of marine habitats of the Caribbean and Pacific of Costa Rica". In Ingo S. Wehrtmann & Jorge Cortés (ed.). Marine Biodiversity of Costa Rica, Central America. Monographiae Biologicae. Vol. 86. Springer. pp. 1–45. ISBN 978-1-4020-8277-1.
  4. ^ Albert Ordway (1863). "Monograph of the genus Callinectes". Boston Journal of Natural History. 7: 567–583.
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