Biology:Gecarcinus quadratus
| Gecarcinus quadratus | |
|---|---|
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| On Parida Island, Panama | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Gecarcinidae |
| Genus: | Gecarcinus |
| Species: | G. quadratus
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| Binomial name | |
| Gecarcinus quadratus De Saussure, 1853
| |
Gecarcinus quadratus, known as the red land crab, whitespot crab,[1] Halloween crab, moon crab, Halloween moon crab, mouthless crab, or is a colourful land crab from the family Gecarcinidae.
Description
The carapace of G. quadratus may reach a length of 5 cm (2.0 in). It has a pair of largely purple claws, red-orange legs, and an almost entirely black carapace with a pair of yellow, orange, purple or reddish spots behind the eyes, and an additional pair of whitish spots on the central-lower carapace.[2]
Environment
G. quadratus is found in the coastal rainforests of Mexico and Central America, and is common along the coasts of Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. It is always found near water and moist environments, despite its inability to swim. It therefore spends most of its time on land, in said forests and mangroves.[3]
Behaviour
This nocturnal crab digs burrows—sometimes as long as 1.5 m (4.9 ft)[4]. It is largely herbivorous and consumes leaf litter and seedlings.[4]
Life cycle
Sexual differences
Distribution
Gecarcinus quadratus is found in mangroves, sand dunes, and rainforests along the Pacific coast from Mexico south to Panama.[5][2] Previously it has also been reported from the Pacific coast of northwestern South America,[5] but in 2014 this population was recognized as a separate species, G. nobili.[2] The taxonomy in relation to the Atlantic G. lateralis is disputed, with many considering G. quadratus and G. lateralis to be conspecific.[2][4]
References
- ↑ Donald B. Bright & Charles L. Hogue (1972). "A synopsis of burrowing land crabs of the World and list of their arthropod symbionts and burrow associates". Contributions in Science 220. Archived from the original on 2010-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20101009030017/http://www.mosquitocatalog.org/files/pdfs/013600-0.pdf.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Robert Perger & Adam Wall (2014). "The description of a new species of the Neotropical land crab genus Gecarcinus Leach, 1814 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Gecarcinidae)". ZooKeys (435): 93–109. doi:10.3897/zookeys.435.7271. PMID 25152688. Bibcode: 2014ZooK..435...93P.
- ↑ "Halloween Moon Crabs" (in en-us). https://www.saczoo.org/imported-blog/posts/halloween-moon-crabs.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Peter M. Sherman (2006). "Influence of land crabs Gecarcinus quadratus (Gecarcinidae) on distributions of organic carbon and roots in a Costa Rican rain forest". Revista de Biología Tropical 54 (1): 149–161. PMID 18457184. https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/13987/13299.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lawrence G. Abele, Michael H. Robinson & Barbara Robinson (1973). "Observations on sound productions by two species of crabs from Panama (Decapoda, Gecarcinidae and Pseudothelphusidae)". Crustaceana 25 (2): 147–152. doi:10.1163/156854073X00795. http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/31468/31468.pdf.
External links
Template:Gecarcinidae Wikidata ☰ Q1571864 entry
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