Orthopagurus minimus

Orthopagurus minimus (Holmes, 1900)

(Fig. 41F, G)

Pagurus minimus Holmes, 1900: 145.

Pylopagurus minimus. — Schmitt 1921: 114, pl. 16, figs. 1a–1c.

Orthopagurus minimus. — Stevens 1927: 247, fig. 1. — Makarov 1962: 215, pl. 2, fig. 1. — McLaughlin 1974: 363, figs. 98, 99. — Wicksten 1980c: 361. — Hart 1982: 116, fig. 40; color plate. — Jensen 1995: 62, fig. 112.

Diagnosis. Rostrum long, triangular; reaching at least half length of ocular scale. Eyestalk long, stout; cornea slightly dilated, ocular scale rounded. Major cheliped sparsely setose; merus with few or no spines, carpus with dorsal row of spines, scattered spinules; hand widening distally, with spines on palm, fingers; fingers wide, flat; with spines along margins. Minor cheliped small, slender, setose; with few spinules; hand convex, without spines on margins but with rows of spines dorsally, extending to fixed finger. Dactyls, propodi of pereopods 2, 3 equal in length, slender, with marginal setae. Abdomen straight. Telson symmetrical, with deep lateral, terminal notch flanked with 4 or more strong teeth.Uropods symmetrical. Carapace length 5.6 m.

Color in life. Major cheliped with dark red ischium, merus, carpus light golden but covered with dark red spots on spines, teeth; chela dark red with whitish apices to fingers. Minor cheliped light golden but covered with small red dots, pereopods 2, 3 similar but merus of each dark red. Eyestalk, first antennae dark red with irregular white bands. Antennae dark red near base, golden distally. Hart (1982) gave an extensive description of the living color.

Habitat and depth. Rocks or broken shell and gravel, 11–64 m, rarely cast ashore after storms.

Range. Tartar Strait and East Sakhalin; Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia to San Diego, California. Type locality off San Diego.

Remarks. This hermit crab often inhabits tubes of polychaetes or the tube mollusk Serpulorbis squamigerus (Carpenter, 1857), or shells of Dentalium spp. On rare occasions, one will inhabit a coiled shell, but the crab moves awkwardly and will vacate such a shell quickly if offered a suitable tube.