''Chaceon fenneri'', commonly known as the golden crab or golden deepsea crab, is one of several species of
crab harvested for food by humans. It was formerly called ''Geryon fenneri''. Like the
blue crab Blue crab may refer to:
* Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design
* ''Callinectes sapidus'' – Chesapeake or Atlantic blue crab of the West Atlantic, introduced elsewhere
* '' Cardisoma guanhumi'' – blue land crab of the West Atlantic
* ''Disco ...
, its
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...
comes from the color of its shell; it is usually cream to tan in color. Both parts of the
binomen
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Chaceon fenneri'' commemorate
Fenner A. Chace, Jr. It is found on the ocean floor at depths of in the tropical west Atlantic, ranging from the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...
to Brazil.
[Carvalho, Filho and Lotufo (2009). ''Note on the fisheries and biology of the golden crab (Chaceon fenneri) off the northern coast of Brazil.'' Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., 37(3): 571-576.] It cannot swim. The
carapace
A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the und ...
of this large crab measures up to ,
[ making the entire animal similar in size to a dinner plate.]benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
(bottom-dwelling) organisms like mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant specie