Pea crab
| Pea crab | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pinnotheres pisum ♂ | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Pinnotheridae |
| Genus: | Pinnotheres |
| Species: | P. pisum |
| Binomial name | |
| Pinnotheres pisum (Linnaeus, 1767) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pinnotheres cranchii Leach, 1815 | |
The pea crab, Pinnotheres pisum, is a small crab in the family Pinnotheridae that lives as a parasite in oysters, clams, mussels and other species of bivalves.[2]
Description
Pea crabs are small crustaceans about the size of a pea or dime with a "smooth dorsal surface of the carapace, or upper exoskeleton" [3] The exoskeleton of males is hard and circular and has eyes and antennae extending from their front and the chelipeds, or claws, are more robust in males than in females who have more elongated chelipeds.[3] The bodies of the female pea crab are often translucent and show the inner organs and gonads as yellow and red, the males being a "more yellowish-grey with patches of brown".[3]
Ecology
The relationship between the pea crab and its host is one of parasitism, rather than mutualism, since the host may be harmed by the crab's feeding activities.[4] The pea crab solely relies on its host for food, safety, and oxygen.[5]
Pea crabs have a variety of hosts, the most important of which are mollusks. The pea crab lives in the mantle cavity of these hosts.[3][4] Other hosts, in addition to oysters, include sea urchins and sand dollars.[4] Pinnotheres can be found inside sand dollars, in the rectum of sea cucumbers,[4] in the tubes of parchment worms, in the burrows of mud shrimp, or in the gills of sea squirts.[5]
Little is known about the pea crab's feeding habits,[5] but in the related oyster crab (Pinnotheres ostreum) larval stages feed on plankton brought in by the oyster, while adults feed by taking the food that are a part of the oyster's diet as well as those that are not.[6] The feeding process can be harmful to the crab's host when they feed on the mucous strings that help carry the food to the host's mouth.[5]
Etymology
Pinnotheres is Greek for "guard of Pinna" and pisum is Latin for a pea, in reference to the shape of the crab.[3]
References
- ↑ Charles Fransen & Michael Türkay. "Pinnotheres pisum (Linnaeus, 1767)". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
- ↑ "Pea crab". Answers.com. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Ray W. Ingle (1997). Crayfishes, Lobsters, and Crabs of Europe: An Illustrated Guide to Common and Traded Species. London: Chapman & Hall. ISBN 978-0-412-71060-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Eugene H. Kaplan. A Field Guide to Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores: Cape Hatteras to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Caribbean. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-46811-6.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 N. J. Berrill & Jacquelyn Berrill (1957). 1001 Questions Answered About the Seashore. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-23366-9.
- ↑ T. Cheng (1973). General Parasitology. New York and London: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-170750-4.