Cardus crucifer

Cardus crucifer
Cardus crucifer
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Polychelidae
Genus: Cardus
Galil, 2000 [2]
Species: C. crucifer
Binomial name
Cardus crucifer
(Thomson, 1873) [3]
Synonyms [4]
  • Deidamia crucifer Thomson, 1873 (basionym)
  • Polycheles crucifer (Thomson, 1873)

Cardus crucifer is a species of blind deep-water decapod crustacean from the Atlantic Ocean,[4] the only species in the genus Cardus. It differs from other members of the family Polychelidae in having only four pairs of claws, instead of five, in both sexes.[5] The name Cardus refers to the thistle Carduus, in reference to the spiny thistle-like carapace.[5] It is found in the eastern Atlantic from Portugal to Morocco and around the Azores and Canary Islands, and in the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, at depths of 550–2,200 metres (1,800–7,200 ft).[5]

References