Cardisoma

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Cladus: Pancrustacea
Superclassis: Multicrustacea
Classis: Malacostraca
Subclassis: Eumalacostraca
Superordo: Eucarida
Ordo: Decapoda
Subordo: Pleocyemata
Infraordo: Brachyura
Sectio: Eubrachyura
Subsectio: Thoracotremata
Superfamilia: Grapsoidea

Familia: Gecarcinidae
Genus: Cardisoma
Species: C. armatum - C. carnifex - C. guanhumi - C. rotundum

References

Ng, P.K.L.; Clark, P.F. 2014: The type of the land crab Cardisoma hirtipes Dana, 1851 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Gecarcinidae). Zootaxa 3860(6): 596–599. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3860.6.8 Reference page.

Cardisoma is a genus of large land crabs. Three species formerly placed in this genus are now placed in Discoplax.[1] The four species that remain in Cardisoma are found in warm coastal regions where they live in burrows. Young individuals are often very colourful with a purple-blue carapace and orange-red legs (leading to a level of popularity in the pet trade), but as they grow older the colours tend to fade, and females may be duller than males. Although less extreme than in fiddler crabs, one claw is usually considerably larger than the other.[2] They are omnivores, but primarily feed on plant material.[3]
Species

The genus Cardisoma comprises these four species:[1]
Image Name Common name Distribution
Cardisoma armatum Herklots, 1851 (African) rainbow crab, (Nigerian) moon crab or patriot crab east Atlantic coastal regions
Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst, 1794) red-claw crab Indo-Pacific coastal regions
Cardisoma crassum Smith, 1870 mouthless crab east Pacific coastal regions
Cardisoma guanhumi Latreille, 1825 blue land crab or giant land crab west Atlantic coastal regions
See also

Tuerkayana – a genus which holds crabs formerly found in Discoplax and Cardisoma[4]

References

Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06.
Mariappan, Pitchaimuthu; Balasundaram, Chellam; Schmitz, Barbara (September 2000). "Decapod crustacean chelipeds: an overview". Journal of Biosciences. Indian Academy of Sciences. 25 (3): 301–313. doi:10.1007/BF02703939. ISSN 0250-5991. PMID 11022233. S2CID 21474481.
Donald B. Bright & Charles L. Hogue (1972). "A synopsis of burrowing land crabs of the world and list of their arthropod symbionts and burrow associates" (PDF). Contributions in Science. 220: 1–58. doi:10.5962/p.241205. S2CID 92490593. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-09.
Guinot, Danièle; Ng, Ngan Kee; Rodríguez Moreno, Paula A. (21 December 2018). "Review of grapsoid families for the establishment of a new family for Leptograpsodes Montgomery, 1931, and a new genus of Gecarcinidae H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Grapsoidea MacLeay, 1838)" (PDF). Zoosystema. 40 (sp1): 547–604. doi:10.5252/zoosystema2018v40a26. S2CID 92671389. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2019.