Published July 4, 2012 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Cancer productus Randall 1840

Description

Cancer productus Randall, 1840

(Fig. 54G, H; Pl. 13E)

Cancer productus Randall, 1840: 116. — Rathbun 1904: 175, 1930: 203, text fig. 32. — Weymouth 1910: 40, pl. 8, figs. 20–24. — Schmitt 1921: 220, text fig. 136. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 378, figs. 306, 307, 330. — Phillips 1939: 27, fig. 19. — Nations 1975: 40, figs. 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B, 39-1, 39-2. — Word & Charwat 1975: 53.— Garth & Abbott 1980: 607, fig. 25.22. — Hart 1982: 206, fig. 84. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 134, fig. 105. — Jensen 1995: 27, fig. 32. — Schweitzer & Feldmann 228. — Kuris et al. 2007: 641, pl. 320, fig. D.

Diagnosis. Front markedly produced beyond outer orbital angles, with 5 subequal teeth, fronto-orbital width about 0.2 times width of carapace. Carapace very broad, widest at anterolateral tooth 9 tooth 10 present. Surface of carapace somewhat convex, smooth to minutely granulate. Carpus of cheliped with large tooth at antero-internal angle, smaller one at upper hinge joint, palm with ridge along dorsal surface, granulate ridges on palm. Carapace length to 66.4 mm.

Color in life. Juveniles highly variable: carapace red, orange, striped with white, red; mottled, gray or gray with median stripe of red; legs striped or red; see color photographs by Garth & Abbott (1980: figs. 25.22a–25.22h) and Jensen (1995: fig. 32). Adult dark red above, white to yellowish below. Chelae with dark apices.

Habitat and depth. Tide pools, rocks in sand, rocky reefs, breakwaters; intertidal zone to 79 m.

Range. Kodiak I., Alaska to San Diego, California. Older reports from Magdalena Bay, Baja California are unconfirmed. Type locality " western America. ”

Remarks. The red rock crab can have a carapace width of up to 173.5 mm. The exoskeleton is heavily calcified. The crab is one of the largest intertidal crabs in California and Oregon, as well as one of the heaviest. It is edible but not sufficiently common to support a commercial fishery.

Notes

Published as part of Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, pp. 1-307 in Zootaxa 3371 on page 228

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Family
Cancridae
Genus
Cancer
Kingdom
Animalia
Order
Decapoda
Phylum
Arthropoda
Scientific name authorship
Randall
Species
productus
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Cancer productus Randall, 1840 sec. Wicksten, 2012

References

  • Randall, J. W. (1840) Catalogue of the Crustacea brought by Thomas Nuttall and J. K. Townsend, from the west coast of North America and the Sandwich Islands, with descriptions of such species as are apparently new among them which are included several species of different localities, previously existing in the collection of the Academy. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 8, 106 - 147.
  • Rathbun, M. J. (1904) Decapod crustaceans of the northwest coast of North America. Harriman Alaska Expedition, 10, 1 - 219.
  • Rathbun, M. J. (1930) The cancroid crabs of America of the families Euryalidae, Portunidae, Atelecyclidae, Cancridae and Xanthidae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 152, 1 - 593.
  • Weymouth, F. W. (1910) Synopsis of the true crabs (Brachyura) of Monterey Bay, California. Leland Stanford Junior University Publications, University series 4, 1 - 64.
  • Schmitt, W. L. (1921) The marine decapod Crustacea of California. University of California Publications in Zoology, 23, 1 - 470.
  • Johnson, M. E. & Snook, H. J. (1927) Seashore Animals of the Pacific Coast. Dover Publications, New York, reprint 1967, 659 pp.
  • Phillips, J. B. (1939) The market crab of California and its close relatives. California Fish and Game, 25, 18 - 29.
  • Nations, J. D. (1975) The genus Cancer (Crustacea: Brachyura): systematics, biogeography and fossil record. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Bulletin, 23, 1 - 104.
  • Word, J. & Charwat, D. (1975) Key to Cancer. In: Word, J. & Charwat, D. (Eds.) Invertebrates of Southern California Coastal Water s. I. Selected Groups of Annelids, Arthropods, Echinoderms and Molluscs. Southern California Coastal Water Project, El Segundo, California, pp. 35 - 54.
  • Garth, J. S. & Abbott, D. (1980) Brachyura: the true crabs. In: Morris, D., Abbott, D. & Haderlie, E. (Eds). Intertidal Invertebrates of California. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, pp. 594 - 630.
  • Hart, J. F. L. (1982) Crabs and their Relatives of British Columbia. British Columbia Provincial Museum Handbook 40, Victoria, 267 pp.
  • Ricketts, E. F., Calvin, J., Hedgpeth, J. W. & Phillips, D. W. (1985) Between Pacific Tides. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 5 th ed., 652 pp.
  • Jensen, G. C. (1995) Pacific Coast Crabs and Shrimps. Sea Challengers, Monterey, California, 87 pp.
  • Kuris, A. M., Sadeghian, P. & Carlton, J. T. (2007) Keys to Decapod Crustacea. In: Carlton, J. T. (Ed.) The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates Central California to Oregon. University of California Press, Berkeley, 4 th ed., pp. 636 - 656.