''Maguimithrax spinosissimus'', also known as the Caribbean king crab, West Indian spider crab, channel clinging crab, reef or spiny spider crab, and coral crab, is a species of

spider crab The Majoidea are a superfamily of crabs which includes the various spider crabs. Taxonomy In "''A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans''" De Grave and colleagues divided Majoidea into six families. The classificati ...

that occurs throughout

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

and across the

Caribbean Islands Most of the Caribbean countries are islands in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest islands include Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Some of the smaller islands are referred to as a ''rock'' or ''reef.'' ''I ...

Description

''Maguimithrax spinosissimus'' has a reddish-brown carapace and walking legs. The claws are smooth, purplish gray, with a single row of nodules along the outer edge, and blunt claw tips. The legs are covered with numerous short spines and nodules. It is the largest native crab species of the Atlantic. It can reach up to 3 kg of weight and a carapace length of 18 cm. Dorsal and ventral views of modern male specimens of Maguimithrax spinosissimus that differ in size

Dorsal and ventral views of modern male specimens of Maguimithrax spinosissimus that differ in size

Distribution

''Maguimithrax spinosissimus'' is found from North Carolina to Venezuela. It inhabits caves and reef underhangs from the shallow intertidal to depths of up to 200 m. It was made the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of a separate genus ''Maguimithrax'' by Klompmaker ''et al.'' (2015).

Diet

The diet of this crab is largely unknown; however, it is considered a large omnivore that has been noted to feed on algae and carrion. Unlike crabs such as the

blue crab Blue crab may refer to: * Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design * ''Callinectes sapidus ''Callinectes sapidus'' (from the Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek ,"beautiful" + , "swimmer", and Latin , "savory"), the blue crab, Atlantic blue ...

, the West Indian spider crab is not commercially harvested for its meat.

Human intervention

Mote Marine Laboratory Mote Marine Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit, marine research organization based on City Island in Sarasota, Florida, with additional campuses in eastern Sarasota County, Boca Grande, Florida, and the Florida Keys. Founded in 1955 by Eug ...

in Florida is spawning the crabs in hopes they will eat algae and benefit coral reefs.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5221072 Majoidea Crustaceans described in 1818 Crabs of the Atlantic Ocean Arthropods of the Dominican Republic