Dotilla myctiroides is a species of sand bubbler crab found on tropical shores and mud-flats of India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.[2] They breed throughout the year but activity peaks during the monsoons. This species builds a burrow, called an "igloo", in unstable sand as well as in well-drained and firm sand. In building the igloo, the crab excavates sand and forms it into spherical pellets. These pellets are used to form a circular wall and roof in the burrow. The resulting structure holds a small amount of air in addition to the crab itself.[3]
Dotilla myctiroides | |
---|---|
Dotilla myctiroides from Devbagh, Karwar, India | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Subphylum: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Infraorder: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | |
Species: | D.myctiroides
|
Binomial name | |
Dotilla myctiroides (H. Milne-Edwards, 1852)[1]
|
References
edit- ^ Davie, P. (2012). "Dotilla myctiroides (H. Milne Edwards, 1852)". World Register of Marine Species op. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ Alcock, Alfred (1900). "Materials for a Carcinological Fauna of India, No. 6: The Brachyura Catometopa, or Grapsoidea". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 69 (3). Baptist Mission Press: 368–369. OCLC 18349194.
- ^ Takeda, Satoshi; Matsumasa, Masatoshi; Yong, Hoi-Sen; Murai, Minoru (1996). ""Igloo" construction by the ocypodid crab, Dotilla myctiroides (Milne-Edwards) (Crustacea; Brachyura): The role of an air chamber when burrowing in a saturated sandy substratum". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 198 (2). ElSevier: 237–247. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(96)00007-X.
External links
edit- Media related to Dotilla myctiroides at Wikimedia Commons