Columbus crab articles - Encyclopedia of Life

Distribution

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"Taken at Male on a floating cuttle-bone." (Borradaile, 1903)

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Comprehensive Description

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Planes minutus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Cancer minutus. Linnaeus, 1758:625.

Grapsus minutus.—Leach, 1818, in 1817–1818:414.—Monod, 1970:66.

Planes minutus.—Monod, 1956:425, fig. 583.—Christiansen, 1969:94, fig. 39, map 32 [Netherlands].

SYNONYMS.—Cancer pusillus Fabricius, 1775; Grapsus pelagicus Say, 1818; Planes clypeatus Bowdich, 1825; Grapsus testudinum Roux, 1828; Nautilograpsus major MacLeay, 1838; Nautilograpsus smithii MacLeay, 1838; Grapsus diris Costa, 1838–1853; Planes linnaeana Bell, 1845.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: None.

Other Material: Morocco: Off Cap Blanc du Nord, 33° 16′N, 09°10′W, surface, collected with hand net, 27 Mar 1976, Onversaagd Sta 140, 1 (L).

DESCRIPTION.—Chace, 1951:68.

Figures: Chace, 1951, figs. la, 2a,d,g,j,k, 3a–h; Monod, 1956, fig. 583.

Male Pleopod: Chace, 1951, fig. 2j,k (off New Jersey).

DISTRIBUTION.—There are very few records of the species from West Africa. Monod (1956:425, 426) listed only four: Gambia River (Gambia), Monrovia (Liberia), Cotonou (Dahomey), and Souellaba (Cameroon). Later, Monod (1970:66) drew attention to Leach's (1818, in 1817–1818: 414) record of the species from the “Gulph of Guinea.” No other West African records are known to us.

Chace (1951:80, fig. 8) indicated the specimens from Gambia, Liberia, and Cameroon as of uncertain identity, being either Planes minutus or P. cyaneus Dana; no material from these localities was seen by Chace and the data provided in the literature were insufficient to identify them with certainty. The specimens mentioned by Leach (1818, in 1817–1818) and Monod (1970) as Grapsus minutus cannot be identified, because too little is known about them.

Quite different is the case with the specimens from Cotonou mentioned and figured by Monod (1956:425, fig. 583). Monod based the identification of his material on Chace's (1951) revision of the genus Planes, in which the differences between P. minutus and P. cyaneus were extensively dealt with. Furthermore, the Cotonou specimen figured by Monod shows the slender second pereiopod indicated by Chace as characteristic for P. minutus, and resembles that species also in other respects, so that there is no good reason to doubt Monod's identification. It is rather difficult therefore to understand Juanico (1976:146), who tried to show that Monod's identification is not reliable by stating on this account: “Monod (1956), dispone de un material de 8 ejemplares, pero no hace ninguna referencia a haberlos analizado respecto a los parámetros que permiten distinguir una especie de otra [= P. minutus from P. cyaneus].” Juanico reached the conclusion that P. minutus is restricted to the North Atlantic, but did not define what he considered the line between the North and South Atlantic. Judging by the fact that he evidently considered Surinam, Pernambuco, and Dahomey to be in the South Atlantic, this line is not the equator. Therefore, we consider for now that both species of Planes occur in West African waters, with Monod's (1956) record of Planes minutus from Cotonou constituting the only reliable record of that species for the area.

Outside the tropical West African region Planes minutus is known with certainty only from the North Atlantic between 11° and 52°N (see also Chace, 1951, fig. 8).

Acanthopus de Haan, 1833:5, 6 [invalid junior homonym of Acanthopus Klug, 1807 (Hymenoptera); a genus established without included nominal species; the first species assigned to the genus, by de Haan, 1835:29, 30, were Plagusia clavimana Latreille, 1806, Cancer planissimus Herbst, 1804 (as a synonym of P. clavimana), and Plagusia serripes Lamarck, 1818. Type-species: Cancer planissimus Herbst, 1804, by selection by Rathbun, 1918:337; gender: masculine; name 465 on Official Index].

Percnon Gistel, 1848:viii [substitute name for Acanthopus de Haan, 1833; type-species: Cancer planissimus Herbst, 1804; gender: neuter; name 345 on Official List].

Leiolophus Miers, 1876:46 [substitute name for Acanthopus de Haan, 1833; type-species: Cancer planissimus Herbst, 1804; gender: masculine].

Liolophus Alcock, 1900:439 [emendation of Leiolophus Miers, 1876; gender: masculine].

*Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853)

Acanthopus Gibbesi H. Milne Edwards, 1853:180.

Percnon planissimum.—Monod, 1956:453, fig. 613.—Gauld and Buchanan, 1959:128.—Forest and Gantès, 1960:355.—Gauld, 1960:71.—Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962:72.—Ribeiro, 1964:17.—Forest and Guinot, 1966:93.—Zariquiey Alvarez, 1968:436, fig. 146a [Portugal]. [Not Cancer planissimus Herbst, 1804.]

Percnon gibbesi.—Chapman and Santler, 1955:375.—Figueira, 1960:11.

SYNONYM.—Plagusia Delaunayi De Rochebrune, 1883.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Fernando Poo: Sta 258, shore, 1, 1 juv (W).

Annobon: Sta 271, shore, 3, 1, 2 juv (L).

Other Material: Madeira: No specific locality, U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1, 1 (dry) (W). Ponta de São Lourenço, SE coast, 32°44′N, 16°44′W, rocky shore with tidepools, 29 Feb 1976, Onversaagd Sta 16, 6 specimens (L). SE coast near Porto da Abra, 32°45′N, 16°41′W, 0–12 m, diving, 13 Mar 1976, Onversaagd Sta 68, 1 ov (L). S coast, W of harbor of Funchal, 32°38′N, 17°05′W, rocky littoral, sublittoral, with boulders, snorkeling, 24 Feb 1976, Onversaagd Sta 8, 1 juv (L). SE coast near Canical, 32°44′N, 16°44′W, 0–22 m, shore collecting, snorkeling, diving, 2 Mar 1976, Onversaagd Sta 14, 14 specimens (L); Same, 11 Mar 1976, Onversaagd Sta 48, 2 specimens (L).

Canary Islands: Puerto Orotava, Isla de Tenerife, shore, 10 Mar 1947, C. O. van Regteren Altena, 1 (L).

DESCRIPTION.—Rathbun, 1918:337; Schmitt. 1939:23, 24.

Figures: Rathbun, 1918, pl. 105; Monod, 1956, fig. 613.

MEASUREMENTS.—The carapace width of the examined specimens ranged from 6 to 30 mm; that of the ovigerous female was 30 mm.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Nigeria: Sta 225, Lagos harbor, shore, 1 ov (W).

Annobon: Sta 271, shore, 1, 1 ov (L). Sta 273, shore, 2 (1 ov) (W).

Other Material: Madeira: No specific locality; U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1, 1 (W).

Liberia: No specific locality, 1882, J. Büttikofer, 1, 1 (L). No specific locality, 1890, J. Demery, 1 (L).

Ghana: Butre, 1840–1855, H. S. Pel, 1 (L). Sekondi, 1853, H. S. Pel, several specimens (L). Baya River, Elmina, 27 Nov 1889, W. H. Brown, U. S. Eclipse Expedition, 1 (W). Accra, 1868–1869, M. Sintenis, 2, 1 (L).

Cameroon: Kribi, among algae on rocks on a sandy beach, 11 Mar 1964, B. de Wilde-Duyfjes, 8, 7, 1 juv (L).

DESCRIPTION.—Rathbun, 1918:332; Chace and Hobbs, 1969:192.

Figures: Rathbun, 1918, fig. 154a, pl. 101; Monod, 1956, fig. 614; Rossignol, 1957, fig. 9; Chace and Hobbs, 1969, fig. 63.

Male Pleopod: Monod, 1956, figs. 615–617 (Senegal); Chace and Hobbs, 1969:190, fig. 62r–t (West Indies).

MEASUREMENTS.—The carapace width of the examined specimens varied from 15 to 42 mm, that of the ovigerous females was 28 and 32 mm.

BIOLOGY.—This is a littoral species, inhabiting rocky shores or rocks on sandy beaches. Off West Africa ovigerous females have been collected in May, August, September, October, and December.

DISTRIBUTION.—The species occurs on both sides of the Atlantic. In American waters its range extends from North Carolina (U.S.A.) to Brazil, in the eastern Atlantic from the Azores and Morocco to Angola. Monod (1956) listed the West African records of the species known to him; to these the following can be added:

Azores: Faial (Figueira, 1960).

Morocco: Temara (Forest and Gantès, 1960).

Madeira: No specific locality (Stimpson, 1907).

Cape Verde Islands: Baía das Gatas, São Vicente and Tarrafal do Monte Trigo, São Antão (Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962; Ribeiro, 1964).

Liberia: No specific locality (Büttikofer, 1890; Johnston, 1906).

Ghana: No specific locality (Gauld, 1960).

São Tomé: No specific locality (Forest and Guinot, 1966). Baía de São Miguel, and Sant'Ana (Forest and Guinot, 1966).

Congo: Djeno (Rossignol, 1957, 1962). Pointe-Noire (Rossignol, 1962).

Angola: Baía de Benguela; Baía da Caota and Ponta das Vacas, Benguela; Praia das Conchas, Moçâmedes (all Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962). Near Moçamêdes (Hartmann-Schröder and Hartmann, 1974).

Saint Helena: James Bay and Rupert's Bay (Chace, 1966).

Cyclograpsus H. Milne Edwards, 1837:77 [type-species: Cyclograpsus punctatus H. Milne Edwards, 1837, by selection by Rathbun, 1918:325; gender: masculine].

Gnathochasmus MacLeay, 1838:65 [type-species: Gnathochasmus barbatus MacLeay, 1838, a subjective junior synonym of Cyclograpsus punctatus H. Milne Edwards, 1837, by monotypy; gender: masculine].

*Cyclograpsus integer H. Milne Edwards, 1837

Cyclograpsus integer.—Sourie, 1954a:294.—Monod, 1956:451, figs. 609–612.—Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962:71.—Rossignol, 1962:121.—Ribeiro, 1964:17.—Uschakov, 1970:443, 455 [listed].

Cyclograpsus occidentalis.—Rossignol, 1957:93, 122 [key], fig. 8.—Bott, 1964:30.

SYNONYM.—Cyclograpsus occidentalis A. Milne Edwards, 1878.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Nigeria: Sta 1, Lagos harbor, shore, 11, 11 (2 ov) (L, W).

Other Material: Cape Verde Islands: Praia, São Tiago, Jul 1883, Talisman Expedition, don. Mus. Paris, 1 (L).

Angola: Lobito, 1899, P. Kamerman, 1 (L).

DESCRIPTION.—Rathbun, 1921:455; Chace and Hobbs, 1969:173.

Figure: Monod, 1956, fig. 609.

Male Pleopod: Monod, 1956, figs. 610–612 (Cape Verde Islands; Senegal); Chace and Hobbs, 1969, fig. 58b–d (West Indies).

Color: “Brun-rouge uniforme. Extrémité des pattes brun foncé, extrémités des pinces jaunâtres” (Rossignol, 1957:94).

MEASUREMENTS.—Our specimens have carapace widths ranging from 6 to 12 mm, those of ovigerous females being 8 and 9 mm.

BIOLOGY.—This species is found under rocks in the intertidal zone. Off West Africa ovigerous females have been collected in March, May, and July.

DISTRIBUTION.—The species inhabits both the eastern and the western Atlantic; it has also been reported from the Indo-West Pacific region, from East Africa to Polynesia (Campbell and Griffin, 1966; Griffin, 1968b). In the western Atlantic it occurs from Bermuda and Florida to Brazil. In the eastern Atlantic its range extends from the Cape Verde Islands and Senegal to Angola. To the West African localities enumerated by Monod (1956) the following can be added:

Cape Verde Islands: Baía da Murdeira, Sal (Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962; Ribeiro, 1964).

Senegal: Dakar (Sourie, 1954a).

Guinea: Conakry (Sourie, 1954a; Uschakov, 1970).

Congo: Loango lagoon (Rossignol, 1957, 1962). Pointe-Noire (Rossignol, 1962).

Angola: Lobito (Bott, 1964). Baía Farta and Baía de Santa Marta, Benguela (Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962).

Metagrapsus H. Milne Edwards, 1853:188 [type-species: Sesarma curvatum H. Milne Edwards, 1837, selection by Rathbun, 1918:321; gender: masculine].

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bibliographic citation: Manning, Raymond B. and Holthuis, L. B. 1981. "West African Brachyuran crabs." Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 1-379. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.306

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Planes minutus

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Planes minutus is a species of pelagic crab that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is typically less than 10 mm (0.4 in) long across the back, and is variable in colouration, to match its background. It may have been the crab seen by Christopher Columbus on Sargassum weed in the Sargasso Sea in 1492.

Description

Planes minutus is a small crab, reaching a maximum carapace length of 17.5 millimetres (0.7 in), and typically less than 10 mm (0.4 in). It has conspicuous eyes in wide orbits at the corners of the wide front edge of the carapace.^[2] The first pair of pereiopods (walking legs) bear a symmetrical pair of chelae with cutting teeth;^[3] the other four pairs are adorned with spines on the last two segments of each leg.^[2] It differs from the larger P. major in that males have a broadly triangular abdomen, rather than one which narrows abruptly after the third segment, and from P. marinus in having flattened legs with a fringe of setae that aid in swimming.^[4]

The colouration of Planes minutus is very variable, and camouflages the crab against the Sargassum weed it often lives on. The base colour is typically brown, sometimes tending towards yellow or red. This is often supplemented with large patches of white, apparently imitating the calcareous tubes attached by annelid worms to Sargassum.^[5] Although the colour pattern tends to match that of the substrate on which the crab is found, the colouration is only able to change slowly after a change of substrate.^[5]

Distribution

Planes minutus is found in the North Atlantic Ocean, between the latitudes of 11° N and 32° N, and also from the west coast of Africa,^[6] the Mediterranean^[7] and the Indian Ocean.^[1] Occasionally the crab has been recorded on the Cornish coast, the first publish record was at Falmouth in 1845 by William Pennington Cocks. Others specimens followed such as in 1848 (Falmouth) and 1899 on the Manacles.^[8]^[9] The latest occurred in 2015.^[10]

Related species, such as Planes major (formerly P. cyaneus) and Planes marinus, occur in other parts of the world's oceans^[6]

Ecology

A Columbus crab living on a loggerhead sea turtle

Planes minutus is exclusively pelagic, inhabiting a wide variety of substrates, including Sargassum weed, floating timbers and the hulls of ships.^[2] It is often found in association with turtles, especially the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta. It had been thought that the crab fed on the turtle's faeces, but it is now thought to fill a cleaning role.^[11]^[12]

Although proficient at swimming, Planes minutus has little endurance, being capable of swimming for less than 45 minutes at 28 °C (82 °F) before sinking.^[3] It uses all its legs while swimming, the first two pairs holding the crab up in the water, and the remaining legs propelling it forwards.^[3] The legs may begin to beat before the crab releases itself from its resting place, allowing it to accelerate more quickly. Attacks on passing animals only normally occur within 5 cm (2 in) of the crab's substrate.^[3] The diet of P. minutus is very varied, including small fish, krill, isopods, sea skaters and squid, and food items may be stored for later consumption.^[3]

Taxonomic history

The first record of Planes minutus may have been made by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage to the New World. On September 17, 1492, in the Sargasso Sea near , he recorded "much more weed appearing, like herbs from rivers, in which they found a live crab, which the Admiral kept. He says that these crabs are certain signs of land". It is thought that this is likely to refer to Planes, rather than the larger Portunus sayi, which rarely occurs so far east.^[4] As a result, crabs of the genus Planes are sometimes known as "Columbus crabs".^[4]

Sporadic records followed from different oceans, but the first name to be accepted under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is the name "Cancer minutus", published by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.^[4] In 1825, Thomas Edward Bowdich described the species under the name "Planes clypeatus"; Bowdich's genus is now used for all the Columbus crabs, but Linnaeus' species name has priority, and so the species is now known as Planes minutus.^[4]

Notes

^ Unavailable pre-1758 name.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Charles Fransen & Michael Türkay (2012). "Planes minutus". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mario de Kluijver & Sarita Ingalsuo. "Planes minutus". Macrobenthos of the North Sea – Crustacea. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e John Davenport (1992). "Observations on the ecology, behaviour, swimming mechanism and energetics of the neustonic grapsid crab, Planes minutus". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 72 (3): 611–620. doi:10.1017/S0025315400059385.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Fenner A. Chace Jr. (1951). "The oceanic crabs of the genera Planes and Pachygrapsus". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 101 (3272): 65–103. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.101-3272.65.
^ ^a ^b Harold B. Hitchcock (1941). "The coloration and color changes of the Gulf-weed crab, Planes minutus" (PDF). The Biological Bulletin. 80 (1): 26–30. JSTOR 1537704.
^ ^a ^b M. Pons, A. Verdi & A. Domingo (2011). "The pelagic crab Planes cyaneus (Dana, 1851) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Grapsidae) in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean in association with loggerhead sea turtles and buoys". Crustaceana. 84 (4): 425–434. doi:10.1163/001121611X557064.
^ Ch. Lewinsohn; L.B Holthuis (1964). "New Records of Decapod Crustaceans from the Mediterranean Coast of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean". Zoologische Mededelingen. 40 (8): 45–63.
^ William Pennington Cocks (1849). "Contributions to the fauna of Falmouth". Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. 17: 38–101.
^ James Clark (1909). "Notes on Cornish Crustacea. 1. Brachyura and Macrura". Zoologist. 13: 281–308.
^ "Rare Columbus crabs from Bermuda wash up in Cornwall". BBC News. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^ John Davenport (1994). "A cleaning association between the oceanic crab Planes minutus and the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 74 (3): 735–737. doi:10.1017/S0025315400047780.
^ Michael G. Frick; Kristina L. Williams; Alan B. Bolten; Karen A. Bjorndal; Helen R. Martins (2004). "Diet and fecundity of Columbus crabs, Planes minutus, associated with oceanic-stage loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, and inanimate flotsam" (PDF). Journal of Crustacean Biology. 24 (2): 350–355. doi:10.1651/c-2440. JSTOR 1549917. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-17.

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Planes minutus: Brief Summary

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Planes minutus is a species of pelagic crab that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is typically less than 10 mm (0.4 in) long across the back, and is variable in colouration, to match its background. It may have been the crab seen by Christopher Columbus on Sargassum weed in the Sargasso Sea in 1492.

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Depth range

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Pelagic or bathypelagic

Poupin, J. (2018). Les Crustacés décapodes des Petites Antilles: Avec de nouvelles observations pour Saint-Martin, la Guadeloupe et la Martinique. Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, 264 p. (Patrimoines naturels ; 77).

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Description

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Restricted to the Atlantic Ocean (Chace, 1951; Crosnier, 1965; Holthuis, 1977) . According to Bouvier 1915 travels over all oceans attached to floating debris.

Vannini, M. (1976). Researches on the coast of Somalia. The shore and the Dune of Sar Uanle. 10. Sandy Beach Decapods. Monitore Zoologico Italiano NS Supplemento VIII 10: 255-286

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Distribution

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south of Newfoundland to 11°N

North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

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Distribution

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Associated with floating 'Gulf Weed' (Sargassum spp.), pieces of which are occasionally cast ashore on European coasts from the Channel coasts to Portugal and Mediterranean. Native in Sargasso Sea, Florida Straits.

Hayward, P.J. & J.S. Ryland (Eds.). (1990). The marine fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe: 1. Introduction and protozoans to arthropods. Clarendon Press: Oxford, UK. 627 pp.

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Columbus Crab

Planes minutus (Linnaeus 1758)

Distribution

Comprehensive Description

Planes minutus

Description

Distribution

Ecology

Taxonomic history

Notes

References

Planes minutus: Brief Summary

Depth range

Reference

Description

Reference

Distribution

Reference

Distribution

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