Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Crustacea Infraorder Brachyura Scientific name Callinectes marginatus Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Decapoda Family Portunidae Higher classification Callinectes | |
Similar Callinectes, Crab, Callinectes exasperatus, Crustacean, Callinectes bocourti | ||
Callinectes marginatus, known as the "sharptooth swimcrab" or "marbled swimcrab", is a species of swimming crab in the genus Callinectes.
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Description
Its carapace bears nine spines behind each eye, the last of which is around twice the length of the previous one, making the whole carapace around 10 centimetres (3.9 in) wide.
Distribution and ecology
Although the name Callinectes marginatus was used by Mary Rathbun and others to also cover animals now referred to the species C. larvatus and C. diacanthus, C. marginatus is now used only for a species found from the Cape Verde Islands and Nouadhibou, Mauritania to Angola.
C. marginatus appears to be entirely marine, unlike some of its congeners, although there are records from the estuaries of the Congo River and the Hwini River. The crabs dig holes around 30 cm (12 in) wide in mudflats.