Grimothea planipes | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Anomura |
Family: | Munididae |
Genus: | Grimothea |
Species: | G. planipes
|
Binomial name | |
Grimothea planipes (
Stimpson, 1860)
| |
Synonyms | |
|
Grimothea planipes, also known as the pelagic red crab, red crab, or tuna crab, is a species of squat lobster from the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Grimothea planipes is a bright red animal, up to 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long. [1] It resembles a true lobster, but has a shorter abdomen. [2]
Grimothea planipes lives on the continental shelf west of Mexico. [3] It is usually found only south-west of San Diego, [1] but in warmer years, its range may extend northwards into California. [3] This is usually indicative of an El Niño event. [4] Adults migrate vertically to near the ocean surface and large numbers occasionally wash up on beaches during warm water events. [3] The southern limit of the species' range is in Chile. [5]
The life cycle of Grimothea planipes appeared for a long time to form a paradox: while an adult population was maintained along the south-western coast of the United States, the planktonic larvae they released were immediately swept by the California Current thousands of miles out to sea. A solution was proposed whereby the larvae use an opposing undercurrent at a lower depth to return to the continental shelf, and this hypothesis was confirmed by sampling different depths of water with a plankton recorder. [6]
Grimothea planipes usually feeds on protists and zooplankton, but will feed by filtering blooms of diatoms. [7]
As the most abundant species of micronekton in the California Current, Grimothea planipes fills an important ecological niche converting primary production into energy that larger organisms can use. [8] G. planipes is accordingly an important food item for many species of birds, marine mammals and fish. It is favoured by tuna, leading to one of the species' common names – "tuna crab". [1] Other fish known to feed on G. planipes include billfishes, yellowtail amberjack, sharks [9] and Epinephelus analogus. [10] The diets of gray whales, [11] Bryde's whales, [12] blue whales [12] and sea otters [13] all include G. planipes. The Mexican endemic bat Myotis vivesi also feeds on G. planipes at some times of the year. [14] Off Baja California, the stomachs of some loggerhead sea turtles have been observed to contain only G. planipes. [15] Since G. planipes may be washed ashore in large numbers, it can be a valuable addition to the diets of seabirds such as the herring gull (Larus argentuatus), whose food supply is usually diminished in El Niño years. [16]
Grimothea planipes | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Anomura |
Family: | Munididae |
Genus: | Grimothea |
Species: | G. planipes
|
Binomial name | |
Grimothea planipes (
Stimpson, 1860)
| |
Synonyms | |
|
Grimothea planipes, also known as the pelagic red crab, red crab, or tuna crab, is a species of squat lobster from the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Grimothea planipes is a bright red animal, up to 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long. [1] It resembles a true lobster, but has a shorter abdomen. [2]
Grimothea planipes lives on the continental shelf west of Mexico. [3] It is usually found only south-west of San Diego, [1] but in warmer years, its range may extend northwards into California. [3] This is usually indicative of an El Niño event. [4] Adults migrate vertically to near the ocean surface and large numbers occasionally wash up on beaches during warm water events. [3] The southern limit of the species' range is in Chile. [5]
The life cycle of Grimothea planipes appeared for a long time to form a paradox: while an adult population was maintained along the south-western coast of the United States, the planktonic larvae they released were immediately swept by the California Current thousands of miles out to sea. A solution was proposed whereby the larvae use an opposing undercurrent at a lower depth to return to the continental shelf, and this hypothesis was confirmed by sampling different depths of water with a plankton recorder. [6]
Grimothea planipes usually feeds on protists and zooplankton, but will feed by filtering blooms of diatoms. [7]
As the most abundant species of micronekton in the California Current, Grimothea planipes fills an important ecological niche converting primary production into energy that larger organisms can use. [8] G. planipes is accordingly an important food item for many species of birds, marine mammals and fish. It is favoured by tuna, leading to one of the species' common names – "tuna crab". [1] Other fish known to feed on G. planipes include billfishes, yellowtail amberjack, sharks [9] and Epinephelus analogus. [10] The diets of gray whales, [11] Bryde's whales, [12] blue whales [12] and sea otters [13] all include G. planipes. The Mexican endemic bat Myotis vivesi also feeds on G. planipes at some times of the year. [14] Off Baja California, the stomachs of some loggerhead sea turtles have been observed to contain only G. planipes. [15] Since G. planipes may be washed ashore in large numbers, it can be a valuable addition to the diets of seabirds such as the herring gull (Larus argentuatus), whose food supply is usually diminished in El Niño years. [16]