Cryptolithodes sitchensis

Quality 0.50 · 0 views · Updated 2 months ago

Species of king crab

title: "Cryptolithodes sitchensis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["king-crabs", "crustaceans-of-the-eastern-pacific-ocean", "anomura-of-the-pacific-ocean", "crustaceans-described-in-1853", "taxa-named-by-johann-friedrich-von-brandt", "crustaceans-of-canada", "crustaceans-of-the-united-states", "fauna-of-california", "fauna-of-the-northwestern-united-states", "fauna-of-british-columbia", "fauna-of-yukon", "fauna-of-alaska"] description: "Species of king crab" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptolithodes_sitchensis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of king crab ::

| image = Umbrella Crab.jpg | image_alt = An umbrella crab from the intertidal at Bean Hollow State Beach, Pescadero, CA, USA. | image2 = Cryptolithodes_sitchensis_frontal_ventral_view.jpg | image2_alt = An umbrella crab being held in somebody's hand. The dorsal carapace is facing downward, revealing the venter (underside), and the anterior is toward the bottom of the frame. The abdomen, walking legs, chelipeds, and mouthparts are visible. The chelipeds conceal the eyes and all but a small portion of the antennae. | genus = Cryptolithodes | species = sitchensis | authority = Brandt, 1853 | synonyms = | Cryptolithodes altafissura | Spence Bate, 1865 | Cryptolithodes alta-fissura | Spence Bate, 1865 | synonyms_ref =

Cryptolithodes sitchensis, known as the umbrella crab and the turtle crab, is a species of king crab native to coastal regions of the northeastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, ranging from Sitka, Alaska to Point Loma, California. Its carapace extends over its legs such that when it pulls in its legs, it resembles a small stone. It lives in rocky areas from the low intertidal to depths of 37 m.

Description

Cryptolithodes sitchensis carapace is ovate, nearly smooth, and extends over all of its three pairs of walking legs and two chelipeds. It is generally about as wide as it is long and can be over 5 cm wide at the adult stage. It ranges from neutral sandy colors to bright oranges, reds, and purples. In adults, the first abdominal segment is fused with the second. The third, fourth, and fifth segments are each composed of one median (inner) plate and a pair of lateral (outer) plates, although the third segment has accessory plates in two small regions on the left and right surrounded by the second segment, third median plate, and third lateral plates. Males have an equal number of these plates on both sides, but females often have more accessory plates to the left of the median.

Taxonomy

Cryptolithodes sitchensis was described by naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1853 from a specimen found near Sitka, Alaska. It is one of the three species of Cryptolithodes, along with C. typicus and C. expansus.

References

von Brandt, Johann Friedrich. (1853). "Ueber eine neue Art der Gattung Cryptolithodes (''Cryptolithodes sitchensis'')". Bulletin de la Classe physico-mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint Pétersbourg.
De Grave, Sammy. (25 July 2022). "''Cryptolithodes sitchensis'' Brandt, 1853".
Snow, C. Dale. (April 1978). "Interesting Crabs of Oregon". Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Kozloff, Eugene N.. (1993). "Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast: An Illustrated Guide to Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia". [[University of Washington Press]].
Jensen, Gregory C.. (1995). "Pacific Coast Crabs and Shrimps". Sea Challengers.
(October 15, 2009). "Global bottlenecks in the distribution of marine Crustacea: temperature constraints in the family Lithodidae". [[Journal of Biogeography]].
(2023). "Marine Decapod Crustacea: A Guide to Families and Genera of the World". CRC Press.
Schmitt, Waldo L.. (1921). "The Marine Decapoda Crustacea of California". University of California Press.
(2000). "Aspects of evolution in the anomuran superfamily Paguroidea: one larval prospective". Invertebrate Reproduction and Development.
Ahyong, Shane T.. (12 December 2023). "''Cryptolithodes'' Brandt, 1848".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::