Aniculus aniculus, the red hermit crab[1] or scaly-legged hermit crab,[2] is a species of aquatic hermit crab of the family Diogenidae. It is distributed across French Polynesia in the Gambier, Marquesas, Society, and Tuamotu archipelagoes.[3] It has also been recorded in the Mozambique Channel and around Mauritius.[4] Of the species in the genus Aniculus, only it and A. ursus are considered common.[5] The species is the host of the parasitic isopod Parathelges aniculi,[6] and it is one of several hermit crabs preyed upon by Nautilus macromphalus.[7]
| Aniculus aniculus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Superfamily: | Paguroidea |
| Family: | Diogenidae |
| Genus: | Aniculus |
| Species: | A. aniculus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Aniculus aniculus (Fabricius, 1787)
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| Synonyms | |
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Description
editAs adults, individuals of the species grow up to 20 centimeters long.[4] One differentiating characteristic of the species is that females possess leaf-like structures on their front three appendages that combine with a large brood-flap to create a full brood-pouch.[8] These crabs reside within the compact shells of gastropods like Muricidae and Cerithiidae.[9]
Taxonomy
editThe species was originally described as Pagurus aniculus by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793, a designation that was reaffirmed more than half a dozen times through the 18th century. In 1852, James Dwight Dana created the new genus Aniculus by splitting it from Pagurus. The separation was justified by differences in the arrangement of the chelipeds, the short and blunt shape of the fingers, and because the abdominal appendages in females split in two branches and not three.[8] Instead of retaining the specific epithet aniculus, Dana changed it to typicus, creating the new and invalid combination Aniculus typicus.[10] Despite being a tautonym, the double name Aniculus aniculus is valid and acceptable under zoological nomenclatural conventions.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Red Hermit Crab (Aniculus aniculus)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ "Aniculus aniculus Scaly-legged Hermit-Crab". www.reeflex.net. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Poupin 1996, p. 13.
- ^ a b "Aniculus aniculus (Fabricius, 1787)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
- ^ McLaughlin & Hoover 1996, p. 305.
- ^ Markham 2003, p. 73.
- ^ Ward & Wicksten 1980, p. 120.
- ^ a b Alcock 1905, p. 94.
- ^ Salvat & Salvat 1992, p. 5.
- ^ Poupin 1996, p. 14.
- ^ Stephan 2023, p. 446.
Bibliography
edit- Alcock, Alfred (1905). Catalogue of the Indian decapod Crustacea in the collection of the Indian museum. Vol. 2. Calcutta: Indian Museum. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.10323.
- Markham, John (2003). "A worldwide list of hermit crabs and their relatives (Anomura: Paguroidea) reported as hosts of Isopoda Bopyridae". Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 60 (1): 71–77. doi:10.24199/j.mmv.2003.60.10 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- McLaughlin, P.A. & Hoover, J.P. (1996). "A new species of Aniculus Dana (Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae) from Hawaii". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 109: 299–305 [305] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Salvat, Francine & Salvat, Bernard (1992). "Nukutipipi Atoll, Tuamoto Archipelago: Geomorphology, Land and Marine Flora and Fauna and Interrelationships". Atoll Research Bulletin. 355: 1–43. doi:10.5479/si.00775630.357.1 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Stephan, Michael J. (2023). "Proposals to require initial lowercase letters for specific and infraspecific epithets, to permit tautonyms non-retroactively, and to use consistent language in Articles 20.1 and 23.2". Taxon. 72 (2): 446–447. doi:10.1002/tax.12902.
- Poupin, J (1996). "Crustacea Decapoda of French Polynesia (Astacidea, Palinuridea, Anomura, Brachyura)". Atoll Research Bulletin. 442: 1–113 [13] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Ward, Peter & Wicksten, Mark (1980). "Food sources and feeding behavior of Nautilus macromphalus". The Veliger. 23 (2): 119–124 – via ResearchGate.
