The red rock crab, Guinusia chabrus, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Plagusiidae.[1] It is found in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.[2]
| Guinusia chabrus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Plagusiidae |
| Genus: | Guinusia |
| Species: | G. chabrus
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| Binomial name | |
| Guinusia chabrus | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
editA 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.[3]
Distribution
editSouthern Africa: Luderitz to Sodwana Bay, Subtidal to at least 100m.[3]
Ecology
editCommon on reefs. Often seen in crevices or hiding under other benthic organisms. Scavenger.[3]
With Haliotis midae it makes up the favoured diet of Octopus vulgaris in False Bay, South Africa.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
- ^ "Plagusia chabrus, red rock crab, (Plagusia capensis)". SeaFriends. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ 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.
External links
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Media related to Plagusia chabrus at Wikimedia Commons- Closeup image on Flickr
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