Carcinus aestuarii

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Carcinus aestuarii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Suborder: Pleocyemata Infraorder: Brachyura Family: Portunidae Genus: Carcinus Species: C. aestuarii
Binomial name
Carcinus aestuarii (Nardo, 1847)
Synonyms
Carcinus mediterraneus Czerniavsky, 1884 Carcinus maenas aestuarii Nardo, 1847

Carcinus aestuarii is a littoral crab, native to the Mediterranean Sea. It is very similar to Carcinus maenas, and is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of C. maenas rather than a species in its own right. The two taxa can be distinguished by the front of the carapace, between the eyes, which is short and toothed in C. maenas, but longer and smoother in C. aestuarii. Also, the gonopods of C. aestuarii are straight and parallel, while those of C. maenas are curved ^[1]. A molecular biological study using the COI gene found the difference between the two to be substantial, confirming the specific status of the two taxa ^[2].

While C. maenas has invaded many shorelines throughout the world, C. aestuarii has only been implicated in one invasion; the coastline of Japan has been invaded by either C. aestuarii or a hybrid of C. aestuarii and C. maenas ^[3].

[edit] References

1. ^ Yamada, S B & L Hauck (2001). Field identification of the European green crab species: Carcinus maenas and Carcinus aestuarii. Journal of Shellfish Research 20 (3): 905–9. 
2. ^ Roman, J. & S. R. Palumbi (2004). A global invader at home: population structure of the green crab, Carcinus maenas, in Europe. Molecular Ecology 13: 2891–2898. 
3. ^ Carlton, T J & A N Cohen (2003). Episodic global dispersal in shallow water marine organisms: the case history of the European shore crabs Carcinus maenas and C. aestuarii. Journal of Biogeography 30: 1809–1820.