1859

Guides

• Petrolisthes armatus

  Green Porcelain Crab

  Petrolisthes armatus, commonly known as the green porcelain crab, is a small porcellanid crab native to the southwestern Atlantic, particularly Brazil. The species has established invasive populations along the southeastern United States coast, where densities can exceed 30,000 individuals per square meter. Genetic studies confirm it as a single monophyletic species with exceptional geographic range spanning the Atlantic and eastern Pacific. It is frequently parasitized by the bopyrid isopod Aporobopyrus curtatus, which causes parasitic castration.

  invasive-speciesfilter-feederparasite-hostintertidalporcelain-craboyster-reefsymbiosisplanktonic-larvaevisual-ecologycrustaceandecapodanomuraporcellanidaesouthwestern-atlanticeastern-pacificsoutheastern-united-statesbopyrid-parasiteAporobopyrus-curtatusestuarinemangrovesponge-symbiosisgaze-stabilizationachromatic-visionlarval-transportoyster-bedballast-wateraquaculturemonophyleticcryptic-species-complexparasitic-castrationzoeamegalopapleopodspermatophorechellipedcarapacegranulatedolive-greenblue-colorationFarol-IslandBrazilGeorgiaSouth-CarolinaFloridaPanamaCosta-RicaEcuadorPeruBaja-CaliforniaCaribbeanGulf-of-MexicoWest-IndiesAscension-IslandBermudaBahamasWest-Africarock-rubblesoft-sedimentshallow-subtidallower-intertidaldensity-30000-per-square-meter6-8-mm0.5-gorange-spotfour-segmented-chelipedantennae-outside-eyesvestigial-fourth-leg-pairfeathery-mouthpartszooplanktonscavengerpheromone-settlement-cue3-mm-sexual-maturity17%-parasite-prevalencebranchial-chamber-parasitesynchronous-growth-parasite-hostcastrationvisual-noisecaustic-flickerpolarization-sensitivityoptomotor-assaytidal-creekspectrally-narrow-environmentmitochondrial-DNAgenetic-variabilityexceptional-rangepre-Canal-Panama18591930s-Floridalineagewarm-temperate-Atlanticspecies-complexhalf-crabsquat-lobster-relativetrue-crabfalse-crabDecapodaMalacostracaArthropodaCrustaceaGibbes-1850Porcellana-armatagreen-porcelain-crabPetrolisthes-armatus