Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Carcinisation (American English: carcinization) is a form of convergent evolution in which non-crab crustaceans evolve a crab-like body plan. The term was introduced into evolutionary biology by L. A. Borradaile , who described it as "the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab".
Porcelain crabs are an example of carcinisation, whereby a noncrab-like animal (in this case a relative of a squat lobster) evolves into an animal that resembles a true crab. [5] [6] Porcelain crabs can be distinguished from true crabs by the apparent number of walking legs (three instead of four pairs; the fourth pair is reduced and held ...
Petrolisthes cabrilloi, also known as the Cabrillo porcelain crab, is a species of crab. [1] Native to the Pacific coast of North America, it was first described to science by Steve Glassell in 1945. [2] [3] Its range is believed to be from Morro Bay to Baja California. [4]
Porcelain crabs differs from true crabs in having four rather than five pereiopods or walking limbs normally visible, and are more closely related to king crabs and hermit crabs. [2] This small porcelain crab has a carapace up to 20 millimetres (0.79 in) wide with a rounded outline.
It displays an extreme form of carcinisation – evolution of a crab-like form – referred to as "hypercarcinisation". [2] In contrast to other porcelain crabs, A. spinifrons shows sexual dimorphism of the pleon (abdomen), closely resembling the situation in true crabs . [ 2 ]
Petrolisthes cinctipes is a species of marine porcelain crab found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from British Columbia to Mexico. [1] This species was first described by John Witt Randall in 1840. [ 2 ]
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
This is characteristic of porcelain crabs, and is in contrast to most families of crabs, where they are set between the eyes. Petrolisthes armatus is a very small species, varying in length between 6 and 8 mm (0.24 and 0.31 in) with a weight of about 0.5 g (0.02 oz).