Pleistacantha
| Pleistacantha | |
|---|---|
_Figure_1.jpg?lang=en)
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| Pleistacantha kannu, A. male, B. female | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Oregoniidae |
| Genus: | Pleistacantha Miers, 1879 |
| Type species | |
| Pleistacantha sanctijohannis | |
Pleistacantha is a genus of crabs in the family Oregoniidae.[2] It is found in Indo-Pacific region of India, Africa, China, Japan and to Western Central Pacific.[3] It is found in a depths of 129–530 ft (39–162 m). They are medium to very large crabs that are orange to reddish orange in carapace then reddish-brown to reddish-white on it walking pair of legs.[4] Its walking legs are long, slender and decreasing in length posteriorly.[5]
Taxonomy
[edit]Pleistacantha was described by zoologist Edward J. Miers in 1879.[1] In 2013, evidence that the family Inachoididae was not monophyletic prompted carcinologists to move Pleistacantha and several other genera into the family Oregoniidae.[6] The name "Pleistacantha" is derived from Greek roots and refers to the spiny nature of the spider crabs in this genus. "Pleisto-" (πλεῖστος) means "most" or "very" and "-acantha" (-άκανθα) means "thorn" or "spine."[citation needed] Therefore, "Pleistacantha" translates to "very spiny" or "most spiny," accurately describing the prominent spines on the carapace and appendages of these crabs.[citation needed]
Species
[edit]The following species are recognized in this genus:[2][3]
- Pleistacantha cervicornis Ihle & Ihle-Landenberg, 1931
- Pleistacantha exophthalmus Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1982
- Pleistacantha griffini Ahyong & T Lee, 2006
- Pleistacantha kannu Ng, Ravinesh & Ravichandran, 2017
- Pleistacantha maxima Ahyong & T Lee, 2006
- Pleistacantha moseleyi (Miers, 1885)
- Pleistacantha naresii (Miers, 1885)
- Pleistacantha ori Ahyong & Ng, 2007
- Pleistacantha oryx Ortmann, 1893
- Pleistacantha pungens (Wood-Mason, 1891)
- Pleistacantha rubida (Alcock, 1895)
- Pleistacantha sanctijohannis Miers, 1879
- Pleistacantha stilipes Ahyong, Chen & Ng, 2005
References
[edit]- ^ a b Miers 1879, p. 24.
- ^ a b Ahyong, Shane T. (19 July 2024). "Pleistacantha Miers, 1879". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Pleistacantha Miers, 1879". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ Ng, Peter K. L.; Ravinesh, Raveendhiran; Ravichandran, S. (2017). "A new large oregoniid spider crab of the genus Pleistacantha Miers, 1879, from the Bay of Bengal, India (Crustacea, Brachyura, Majoidea)". ZooKeys (716): 127–146. Bibcode:2017ZooK..716..127N. doi:10.3897/zookeys.716.21349. PMC 5740409. PMID 29290711.
- ^ Ahyong, Shane T.; Lee, Timothy (2006). "Two new species of Pleistacantha Miers, 1879 from the Indo-West Pacific region (Crustacea, Decapoda, Majidae)". Zootaxa. 1378: 1–17. doi:10.5281/zenodo.175003.
- ^ Poore & Ahyong 2023, p. 578.
Works cited
[edit]- Miers, Edward J. (1 June 1879). "On a collection of Crustacea made by Capt. H.C. St. John, R.N., in the Corean and Japanese Seas. With an appendix by Capt. H.C. St. John" (PDF). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 18–61 – via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
- Poore, Gary C. B.; Ahyong, Shane T. (2023). "Anomura". Marine Decapod Crustacea: A Guide to Families and Genera of the World. CRC Press. pp. 311–317. ISBN 978-1-4863-1178-1.
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