Mithrax spinosissimus

Maguimithrax spinosissimus,^[2] also known as the Caribbean king crab,^[3] West Indian spider crab, channel clinging crab, reef or spiny spider crab, and coral crab, is a species of spider crab that occurs throughout South Florida and across the Caribbean Islands.^[4][5]

Mithrax spinosissimus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Mithracidae
Genus:	Maguimithrax
Species:	M. spinosissimus
Binomial name
Maguimithrax spinosissimus Lamarck, 1818
Synonyms [1]
Damithrax spinosissimus Maia spinosissimus Mithrax spinosissimus

Diet

The diet of this crab is largely unknown; however, it is considered a large omnivore that has been noted to feed on algae and carrion.^[6] Unlike crabs such as the blue crab, the West Indian spider crab is not commercially harvested for its meat.^[4]

Description

Female

M. spinosissimus has a reddish-brown carapace and walking legs. The claws are smooth, purplish gray, with a single row of nodules along the outer edge, and blunt claw tips. The legs are covered with numerous short spines and nodules. It is the largest native crab species of the Atlantic. It can reach up to 3 kg of weight and a carapace length of 18 cm.^[3]

Dorsal and ventral views of two different sized males

Distribution

M. spinosissimus is found from North Carolina to Venezuela. It inhabits caves and reef underhangs from the shallow intertidal to depths of up to 200 m.^[3]

It was made the type species of a separate genus Maguimithrax by Klompmaker et al. (2015).^[7]

Human intervention

Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida is spawning the crabs in hopes they will eat algae and benefit coral reefs.^[8][9]

References

1. Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06.
2. WoRMS Editorial Board (2023). "World Register of Marine Species". WoRMS. doi:10.14284/170. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
3. Turini, Tassia; Colavite, Jéssica; Bolaños, Juan A.; Hernández, Jesús Enrique; Baeza, Juan Antonio; Santana, William (May 2021). "Larval development of the Caribbean king crab Maguimithrax spinosissimus (Lamarck, 1818), the largest brachyuran in the western Atlantic (Crustacea: Decapoda: Majoidea)". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 101 (3): 577–589. doi:10.1017/S0025315421000515. S2CID 237417648.
4. Wilber, Dara H.; Wilber, T. Payson Jr. (1991). "Environmental influences on the growth and survival of West Indian spider crabs Mithrax spinosissimus in culture". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 146 (1): 27–38. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(91)90253-S. S2CID 84979885.
5. Humann, Paul; DeLoach, Ned (2002). Reef Creature Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas (2nd ed.). Jacksonville, FL: New World Publications. pp. 224–225. ISBN 978-1-878348-31-9.
6. Wilber, Dara H.; Wilber, T. Payson Jr. (1989). "The effects of holding space and diet on the growth of the West Indian spider crab Mithrax spinosissimus". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 131 (3): 215–222. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(89)90113-5. S2CID 84169238.
7. Klompmaker, Adiël A.; Portell, Roger W.; Klier, Aaron T.; Prueter, Vanessa; Tucker, Alyssa L. (2015). "Spider crabs of the Western Atlantic with special reference to fossil and some modern Mithracidae". PeerJ. 3: e1301. doi:10.7717/peerj.1301. PMC 4636416. PMID 26557432. S2CID 13515540.
8. Kuizon, Kimberly (12 September 2023). "Mote Marine Laboratory Aquaculture Research Park breeding Caribbean King Crabs to help with coral restoration". WTVT.
9. Jones, Benji (27 September 2023). "Scientists will unleash an army of crabs to help save Florida's dying reef". Vox. Retrieved 3 October 2023.

External links

• Media related to Mithrax spinosissimus at Wikimedia Commons
• Photos of Mithrax spinosissimus on Sealife Collection