Liocarcinus pusillus

Liocarcinus pusillus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Portunidae
Genus:	Liocarcinus
Species:	L. pusillus
Binomial name
Liocarcinus pusillus (Leach, 1815)
Synonyms [2]
Macropipus pusillus (Leach, 1815) Polybius pusillus (Leach, 1815)[1] Portunus parvulus Parisi, 1915 Portunus pusillus Leach, 1815

Liocarcinus pusillus, common name dwarf swimming crab,^[3] is a species of crab in the Portunidae family.^[4]

Description

Liocarcinus pusillus is a small, colourful species with a broad, suboval carapace having a maximum width of 25 mm (1.0 in). However, most specimens are usually less than 20 mm (0.8 in).^[4][5][5] This species occurs in a wide range of colours.^[4] The front has three sharpened tusks, directed forward.^[3]

Distribution

Liocarcinus pusillus occurs from North-West Africa, to Lofoten, Norway^[4][5] including the North Sea.^[3] It is found around the shores of: England, in such places as Northumberland, Yorkshire, The Wash, Thames, the eastern English Channel, Isle of Wight, Portland, Plymouth, the Scilly Isles, the Bristol Channel, Liverpool Bay; Scotland - Shetland, Orkney, Firth of Forth, Argyll and Clyde, The Minch; Ireland, occurring in and around Dublin, Belfast, Mayo, Galway Bay, Fastnet, Cork; and elsewhere in the British Isles including the Channel Islands, Anglesey and the Isle of Man.^[6]

Habitat

Specimens range intertidally up to 100 metres,^[5] dwelling on sandy to stony bottoms,^[4][6] but prefer gravel or stony substrates.

References

1. ^ P. Davie, C. Fransen & M. Türkay (2010). "Liocarcinus pusillus (Leach, 1816)". World Register of Marine Species. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=107393. Retrieved August 23, 2010. 
2. ^ 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. http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s17/s17rbz.pdf. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Marine Species: Liocarcinus pusillus". Skaphandrus.com. http://www.skaphandrus.com/marine_species/species/Liocarcinus_pusillus. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Liocarcinus pusillus". Seawater.no. March 20, 2009. http://www.seawater.no/fauna/Leddyr/pusillus.htm. Retrieved August 5, 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} "Liten svømmekrabbe - Liocarcinus pusillus" (in Norwegian). Marinbi.com. http://www.marinbi.com/arthropoda/l-pusill.htm. Retrieved August 5, 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Mario de Kluiver & Sarita Ingualso. "Liocarcinus pusillus". Macrobenthos of the North Sea - Crustacea. Marine Species Identification Portal. http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=crustacea&id=226. Retrieved August 5, 2010.