Loxorhynchus grandis
| Loxorhynchus grandis | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Epialtidae |
| Genus: | Loxorhynchus |
| Species: | L. grandis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Loxorhynchus grandis Stimpson, 1857
| |
Loxorhynchus grandis, commonly known as the sheep crab, is a species of crab in the family Epialtidae[1]. It is the largest crab found on the California coast[2]. The species was first described to science by William Stimson in 1857[3]. The type specimen was collected on the coast of California, new San Francisco.
Distribution and habitat
This crab lives in coastal waters from Cordell Bank, California to Punta San Bartolome, Baja California[2]. It is found in waters between 6 metres (20 ft) and 152 metres (499 ft)[4] deep. Sheep crabs are quite mobile. and forage on rocky and soft bottoms, as well as pilings[5]. This species is migratory, spending the warm months of the year in shallow waters and the cooler months in deeper waters.
Fishery
In the late 1970s a commercial fishery for sheep crabs developed in California. Two markets emerged, one for the large claws of the male crabs, and another for whole crabs. The fishery peaked in 1988 when 96,000 pounds of claws and 108,000 pounds of whole crabs were landed. In 1990 a new California law, the Marine Resources Protection Act, banned the primary fishing methods used to harvest sheep crabs, and the fishery all but collapsed. [6]
References
- ^ Peter Davie (2010). "Loxorhynchus grandis Stimpson, 1857". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ a b Hobday, Alistair J.; Rumsey, Scott M. (1999-07-22). "Population dynamics of the sheep crab Loxorhynchus grandis (Majidae) Stimpson 1857 at La Jolla California".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Stimpson, William (1857). Crustacea and Echinodermata of the Pacific shores of North America. Smithsonian Libraries. [Boston, Boston Society of Natural History]. pp. 12–13.
- ^ "Sheep crab, Reefs & Pilings, Invertebrates, Loxorhynchus grandis at the Monterey Bay Aquarium". www.montereybayaquarium.org. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ "Loxorhynchus grandis, sheep crab". sealifebase.org. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ "Sheep Crab".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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