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Porcelain crab
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{{Short description|Family of crustaceans}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Porcelain crabs | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Tithonian|Recent}} | image = South eastern Pacific species of Petrolisthes, Allopetrolisthes, and Liopetrolisthes (Porcellanidae).jpg | image_caption = Southeastern Pacific species of ''Petrolisthes'', ''Allopetrolisthes'' and ''Liopetrolisthes'' | taxon = Porcellanidae | authority = [[Adrian Hardy Haworth|Haworth]], 1825 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text }} '''Porcelain crabs''' are [[Decapoda|decapod]] [[crustacean]]s in the widespread family '''Porcellanidae''', which superficially resemble true [[crab]]s. They have flattened bodies as an adaptation for living in rock crevices. They are delicate, readily losing limbs when attacked, and use their large claws for maintaining territories. They first appeared in the [[Tithonian]] age of the [[Late Jurassic]] epoch, 145–152 million years ago. ==Description== Porcelain crabs are small, usually with body widths less than {{convert|15|mm|in|frac=-16|abbr=off}}.<ref name="Denny">{{cite book |first1=Mark W. |last1=Denny |first2=Steven Dean |last2=Gaines |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |title=Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores |series=Encyclopedias of the Natural World, Issue 1 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-25118-2 |chapter=Crabs |pages=164–176 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uufQnE7MzMkC&pg=PA167}}</ref> They share the general body plan of a [[squat lobster]], but their bodies are more compact and flattened, an adaptation for living and hiding under rocks.<ref name=HongKong/> Porcelain crabs are quite fragile animals, and often shed their limbs to escape predators,<ref name=Poore/> hence their name. The lost [[appendage]] can grow back over several [[ecdysis|moults]]. Porcelain crabs have large [[chela (organ)|chelae]] (claws), which are used for [[territory (animal)|territorial]] struggles, but not for catching food.<ref name=Denny/> The fifth pair of [[pereiopod]]s is reduced and used for cleaning.<ref name=Allen>{{cite book |first=Gerald R. |last=Allen |year=1997 |title=Tropical Marine Life |series=Periplus Nature Guides |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |isbn=978-962-593-157-9 |chapter=Anemone crab ''Neopetrolisthes maculatus'' |page=35 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpMSjJ5DVDYC&pg=PA35}}</ref> ==Evolution== Porcelain crabs are an example of [[carcinisation]], whereby a noncrab-like animal (in this case a relative of a squat lobster) evolves into an animal that resembles a [[crab|true crab]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=C. L. Morrison |author2=A. W. Harvey |author3=S. Lavery |author4=K. Tieu |author5=Y. Huang |author6=C. W. Cunningham |year=2001 |title=Mitochondrial gene rearrangements confirm the parallel evolution of the crab-like form |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society B]] |volume=269 |pages=345–350 |url=http://www.biology.duke.edu/cunningham/pdfs/Morrison%20et%20al.pdf |doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1886 |issue=1489 |pmid=11886621 |pmc=1690904}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Jonas Keiler, Stefan Richter |author2=Christian S. Wirkner |name-list-style=amp |year=2014 |title=Evolutionary morphology of the organ systems in squat lobsters and porcelain crabs (crustacea: Decapoda: Anomala): an insight into carcinization |journal=[[Journal of Morphology]] |doi=10.1002/jmor.20311 |pmid=25156549 |volume=276 |issue=1 |pages=1–21|s2cid=26260996 }}</ref> Porcelain crabs can be distinguished from true crabs by the apparent number of [[pereiopod|walking legs]] (three instead of four pairs; the fourth pair is reduced and held against the [[carapace]]), and the long [[antenna (biology)|antennae]] originating on the front outside of the [[eyestalk]]s.<ref name="Poore">{{cite book |author1=Gary C. B. Poore |author2=Shane T. Ahyong |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |title=Marine decapod Crustacea of southern Australia: a guide to identification |publisher=[[CSIRO Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-643-06906-0 |chapter=Porcellanidae Haworth, 1825 |pages=242–246 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZWnuGc0xlMC&pg=PA242}}</ref> The [[abdomen]] of the porcelain crab is long and folded underneath it, free to move.<ref name="Poore"/> ==Biogeography and ecology== [[File:Pilumnus hirtellus millport.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Porcellana platycheles]]'']] [[File:Porcelain crab Nick Hobgood.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Neopetrolisthes maculatus]]'']] Porcelain crabs live in all the world's oceans, except the [[Arctic Ocean]] and the [[Antarctic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://crustacea.net/crustace/anomura/www/porcella.htm |author1=P. McLaughlin, S. Ahyong |author2=J. K. Lowry |name-list-style=amp |date=October 2, 2002 |work=Anomura: Families |title=Porcellanidae Haworth, 1825 |publisher=[[Australian Museum]] |access-date=February 10, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050429024213/http://crustacea.net/crustace/anomura/www/porcella.htm |archive-date=April 29, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They are common under rocks, and can often be found and observed on rocky [[beach]]es and shorelines, startled creatures scurrying away when a stone is lifted. They feed by combing [[plankton]] and other organic particles from the water using long [[seta]]e (feathery hair- or bristle-like structures) on the [[arthropod mouthparts|mouthparts]].<ref name="Allen"/> Some of the common species of porcelain crabs in the [[Caribbean Sea]] are ''[[Petrolisthes quadratus]]'', found in large numbers under rocks in the intertidal, and the red-and-white polka-dotted ''[[Porcellana sayana]]'', which lives commensally within the shells inhabited by large [[hermit crab]]s. In [[Hong Kong]], ''[[Petrolisthes japonicus]]'' is common.<ref name="HongKong">{{cite book |author1=Brian Morton |author2=John Edward Morton |name-list-style=amp |year=1993 |title=The Sea Shore Ecology of Hong Kong |publisher=[[Hong Kong University Press]] |isbn=978-962-209-027-9 |chapter=Boulder shores |pages=86–125 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r79kKRbkzMwC&pg=PA95}}</ref> ==Diversity== {{As of|2018}}, some 4723 extant species of porcelain crab had been described,<ref name="checklist">{{cite journal |author1=Masayuki Osawa |author2=Patsy A. McLaughlin |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Annotated checklist of anomuran decapod crustaceans of the world (exclusive of the Kiwaoidea and families Chirostylidae and Galatheidae of the Galatheoidea) Part II – Porcellanidae |journal=[[Zootaxa]] |volume=Suppl. 23 |pages=109–129 |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s23/s23rbz109-129.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302185947/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s23/s23rbz109-129.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-02 }}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=October 2022|reason=Reference from 2010 can not reference the situation as of 2018. Reference does not support the claim.}} divided among these 30 genera:<ref name="checklist"/><ref>{{cite web |author=WoRMS |year=2010 |title=Porcellanidae |publisher=[[World Register of Marine Species]] |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=106734 |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> {{div col|colwidth=21em}} *''[[Aliaporcellana]]'' <small>Nakasone & Miyake, 1969</small> *''[[Allopetrolisthes]]'' <small>Haig, 1960</small> *''[[Ancylocheles]]'' <small>Haig, 1978</small> *''[[Capilliporcellana]]'' <small>Haig, 1978</small> *''[[Clastotoechus]]'' <small>Haig, 1960</small> *''[[Enosteoides]]'' <small>Johnson, 1970</small> *''[[Euceramus]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1860</small> *''[[Eulenaios]]'' <small>Ng & Nakasone, 1993</small> *''[[Heteropolyonyx]]'' <small>Osawa, 2001</small> *''[[Heteroporcellana]]'' <small>Haig, 1978</small> *''[[Liopetrolisthes]]'' <small>Haig, 1960</small> *''[[Lissoporcellana]]'' <small>Haig, 1978</small> *''[[Madarateuchus]]'' <small>Harvey, 1999</small> *''[[Megalobrachium]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1858</small> *''[[Minyocerus]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1858</small> *''[[Neopetrolisthes]]'' <small>Miyake, 1937</small> *''[[Neopisosoma]]'' <small>Haig, 1960</small> *''[[Novorostrum]]'' <small>Osawa, 1998</small> *''[[Orthochela]]'' <small>Glassell, 1936</small> *''[[Pachycheles]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1858</small> *''[[Parapetrolisthes]]'' <small>Haig, 1962</small> *''[[Petrocheles]]'' <small>Miers, 1876</small> *''[[Petrolisthes]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1858</small> *''[[Pisidia (crustacean)|Pisidia]]'' <small>Leach, 1820</small> *''[[Polyonyx]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1858</small> *''[[Porcellana]]'' <small>Lamarck, 1801</small> *''[[Porcellanella]]'' <small>White, 1852</small> *''[[Pseudoporcellanella]]'' <small>Sankarankutty, 1962</small> *''[[Raphidopus]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1858</small> *''[[Ulloaia]]'' <small>Glassell, 1938</small> {{div col end}} The [[fossil record]] of porcelain crabs includes species of ''Pachycheles'', ''Pisidia'', ''Polyonyx'', ''Porcellana'', and a further six genera known only from fossils:<ref name="Schweitzer">{{cite journal |author1=Carrie E. Schweitzer |author2=Rodney M. Feldmann |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Earliest known Porcellanidae (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheoidea) (Jurassic: Tithonian) |journal=[[Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen]] |volume=258 |issue=2 |pages=243–248 |url=http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/31610/31610.pdf |doi=10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0096}}</ref> *''[[Annieporcellana]]'' <small>Fraaije ''et al.'', 2008</small> *''[[Beripetrolisthes]]'' <small>De Angeli & Garassino, 2002</small> *''[[Eopetrolisthes]]'' <small>De Angeli & Garassino, 2002</small> *''[[Lobipetrolisthes]]'' <small>De Angeli & Garassino, 2002</small> *''[[Longoporcellana]]'' <small>Müller & Collins, 1991</small> The earliest claimed porcelain crab fossil was ''[[Jurellana]]'' from the [[Tithonian]] aged [[Ernstbrunn]] [[Limestone]] of Austria.<ref name="Schweitzer"/> However, it was subsequently determined to be a true crab. With the new oldest porcelain crab being ''[[Vibrissalana]]'' from the same locality.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Robins|first=Cristina M|last2=Klompmaker|first2=Adiël A|date=2019-11-14|title=Extreme diversity and parasitism of Late Jurassic squat lobsters (Decapoda: Galatheoidea) and the oldest records of porcellanids and galatheids|url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/187/4/1131/5555554|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=187|issue=4|pages=1131–1154|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz067|issn=0024-4082|doi-access=free}}</ref> == References == {{reflist|25em}} ==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|2=''Porcelain crab''}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1435521}} [[Category:Porcelain crabs| ]] [[Category:Anomura]] [[Category:Tithonian first appearances]] [[Category:Extant Late Jurassic first appearances]] [[Category:Taxa named by Adrian Hardy Haworth]]
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