Callinectes arcuatus
Species of crab
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Callinectes arcuatus is a species of swimming crab in the genus Callinectes that lives along the Pacific coast of Central America.
| Callinectes arcuatus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Callinectes arcuatus in the Gulf of California | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Portunidae |
| Genus: | Callinectes |
| Species: | C. arcuatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Callinectes arcuatus Ordway, 1863 | |
Distribution and ecology
C. arcuatus is found along the Pacific coast of North and Central America from Mexico southwards.[1] Its diet comprises fish, molluscs, shrimp and plant matter.[2] Occasionally, populations become established in bays in southern California, which are thought to represent single cohorts transported as larvae; these populations typically die out within a few years.[1]
Fishery
A small fishery for this species is carried out in Costa Rica, run by 10–15 fishermen in the Golfo de Nicoya.[3] The fishery is subject to a maximum of 1600 traps, but the size of caught males was already decreasing in 2009, and the market appeared to be saturated.[3]
Taxonomy
Callinectes arcuatus was described in 1863 by Albert Ordway in his monograph of the genus Callinectes, using material collected at Cape St. Lucas.[4]