Jeff Goddard, USA
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Portunus sayi (Gibbes, 1850)
The Sargassum swimming crab, is a pelagic crab species in the Portunidae family. The pelagic crab can be found among floating mats of sargassum algae. The species name "sayi" was named in honor of the American naturalist Thomas Say.
Portunus sayi is about 5 to 7.5 cm tall. Their smooth, glossy carapace is almost twice as wide as it is long, and has six front teeth on each side. Claws are larger in males than females and the spines they carry have orange edges. Carapace, claws, and legs are usually light brown with large white or flesh-colored spots, but the brown color can have a purplish or greenish tinge. This crab, like other members of its family, has a fourth pair of flattened, paddle-like legs that are great for swimming. Often swimming sideways rather than forward, the sargassum swimming crab can move surprisingly quickly.
Portunus sayi is a swimming crab that lives in the tangled masses of Sargassum browns. Their coloring serves as camouflage between the algae fronds in which the crab hunts or lies in wait to capture small animals.
This crab has also been found as an epibiont of loggerhead turtles along with the barnacles Lepas anatifera and Conchoderma virgatum, various other crabs, spider crabs, tunicates and hydroids. This is not surprising as juvenile loggerhead sea turtles live among the floating mats of Sargassum algae and feed on the fauna found there.
Synonymised names:
Lupa sayi Gibbes, 1850 · unaccepted > superseded combination
Lupa Sayi Gibbes in White, 1849 · unaccepted > nomen nudum
Lupea parvula Desbonne in Desbonne & Schramm, 1867 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Lupea pudica Gerstaecker, 1856 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Portunus (Portunus) sayi (Gibbes, 1850) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Portunus tropicalis Marion de Procé, 1822 · unaccepted (nomen oblitum)
The Sargassum swimming crab, is a pelagic crab species in the Portunidae family. The pelagic crab can be found among floating mats of sargassum algae. The species name "sayi" was named in honor of the American naturalist Thomas Say.
Portunus sayi is about 5 to 7.5 cm tall. Their smooth, glossy carapace is almost twice as wide as it is long, and has six front teeth on each side. Claws are larger in males than females and the spines they carry have orange edges. Carapace, claws, and legs are usually light brown with large white or flesh-colored spots, but the brown color can have a purplish or greenish tinge. This crab, like other members of its family, has a fourth pair of flattened, paddle-like legs that are great for swimming. Often swimming sideways rather than forward, the sargassum swimming crab can move surprisingly quickly.
Portunus sayi is a swimming crab that lives in the tangled masses of Sargassum browns. Their coloring serves as camouflage between the algae fronds in which the crab hunts or lies in wait to capture small animals.
This crab has also been found as an epibiont of loggerhead turtles along with the barnacles Lepas anatifera and Conchoderma virgatum, various other crabs, spider crabs, tunicates and hydroids. This is not surprising as juvenile loggerhead sea turtles live among the floating mats of Sargassum algae and feed on the fauna found there.
Synonymised names:
Lupa sayi Gibbes, 1850 · unaccepted > superseded combination
Lupa Sayi Gibbes in White, 1849 · unaccepted > nomen nudum
Lupea parvula Desbonne in Desbonne & Schramm, 1867 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Lupea pudica Gerstaecker, 1856 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Portunus (Portunus) sayi (Gibbes, 1850) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Portunus tropicalis Marion de Procé, 1822 · unaccepted (nomen oblitum)
