Stenorhynchus seticornis
FAMILY
Majidae
TAXONOMY
Cancer seticornis Herbst, 1788, Curaçao.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Crabe lance, crabe nez pointu; German: Gelblinien-Pfeilkrabbe, Karbische Spinnenkrabbe, Pfeil-Gespensterkrabbe; Portuguese: Caranguejo-aranha.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Carapace is triangular, with a very long spiny rostrum. Legs are extremely long and slender. Color golden brown with many light and dark lines; fingers of claws blue.
DISTRIBUTION
Found in the western Atlantic from North Carolina and Bermuda to Santa Catarina, Brazil.
HABITAT
Occurs from very shallow water to 1,190 ft (366 m) on a wide variety of substrates, including coral, rocks, and calcareous algae.
BEHAVIOR
Leaves its shelter and migrates along soft corals and gorgonians at dusk, returning to the same location at dawn. Sometimes found in association with the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
In the field, appears to feed throughout the day on material that accumulated on the surface of its body and appendages as it climbed about during the previous night. Has been observed scavenging and preying on mollusk siphons and small worms in captivity, and has also been observed attaching material to its rostrum for later consumption.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Like other spider crabs, females do not have to molt prior to mating. Egg-bearing females occur throughout the year; eggs hatch in 12 days. The two zoeal stages and megalops take about 20 days to develop.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN. One of the more commonly observed crabs in the Caribbean. Population trends not known.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
A popular species in the tropical marine aquarium trade. As of 2003 it has not been commercially propagated.
