Pelagic-benthic-transition
Guides
Pleuroncodes
red crab, tuna crab, squat lobster, múnida
Pleuroncodes is a genus of anomuran crustaceans (squat lobsters) in the family Munididae, found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Species occupy both pelagic and benthic habitats depending on life stage, with larvae and small individuals in pelagic waters and larger adults on the seafloor. The genus includes commercially and ecologically important species that form dense aggregations and serve as prey for large marine predators.