Platyxanthus crenulatus

Platyxanthus crenulatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Platyxanthidae
Genus: Platyxanthus
Species: P. crenulatus
Binomial name
Platyxanthus crenulatus
A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

Platyxanthus crenulatus is a species of crab in the family Platyxanthidae.[1] The species is found along the sublittoral zone of the western Atlantic in the waters of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina,[2] associated mostly with hard bottoms. Adults are robust and conspicuous crabs, with a smooth carapace, dorsally purple and white ventrally. Their claws have marked heterochely and right-handedness (i.e. dimorphism between chelae and the tendency of bearing the major claw on the right-hand side of the body), traits associated with shell-breaking feeding habits.[3] Due to its abundance, large size and diet, P. crenulatus presumably has an important ecological role as a predator in benthic communities.[4]

References


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