Directory of Decapoda Resources

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The largest and most familiar crustaceans belong to Decapoda. The 10,000 species of crabs, shrimps, crayfishes, lobsters, and their relatives are decapods. The first three segments of the decapod thorax are fused with the head to form a cephalothorax and their appendages are maxillipeds. The remaining five pairs of thoracic appendages bear simple or chelate walking legs.

Resources in This Category

• Anomurans

  http://museumvictoria.com.au/crust/hermbiol.html
  Provides information on the false crabs and hermit crabs in this infraorder, their biology and distribution.

• Asian Shore Crab - Hemigrapus sanguineus

  http://cars.er.usgs.gov/Nonindigenous_Species/Asian_shore_crab/asian_shore_crab.html
  Profile of this species, which is becoming established on the east coast of the US. Includes photos and maps.

• Blue Crab

  http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/blue_crab
  Information on this crustacean, Callinectes sapidus, its life cycle and habitat.

• Blue Crab Archives

  http://www.bluecrab.info/
  Provides a great deal of information on Callinectes sapidus, their identification, biology, how they are caught, how to eat them, crab news and a forum.

• Callinectes sapidus: Blue Crab

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Callin_sapidu.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Cancer magister: Dungeness Crab

  http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/luchterh_wesl
  Research project by Wesley Luchterhand at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

• Cardisoma guanhumi: Blue Land Crab

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Cardis_guanhu.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Charybdis hellerii: Indo-Pacific Swimming Crab

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Charyb_heller.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Coconut Crab: Birgus latro

  http://www.arkive.org/coconut-crab/birgus-latro/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Common Hermit Crab

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Pagurus.htm
  Several photographs of Pagurus berhardus with information on its identification, breeding, habitat, food, range and bionomics.

• Common Hermit Crab: Pagurus bernhardus

  http://www.arkive.org/common-hermit-crab/pagurus-bernhardus/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Common Prawn: Palaemon serratus

  http://www.arkive.org/common-prawn/palaemon-serratus/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Common Shore Crab: Carcinus maenas

  http://www.arkive.org/common-shore-crab/carcinus-maenas/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Crabs

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/CRABSX.htm
  Photographs and information on the species found round the coasts of Britain.

• Crayfish Photo Gallery

  http://www.denison.edu/~stocker/cfgallery.html
  Images of dozens of species, mainly from the central United States.

• Crustacea

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/crustace.htm
  Extensive information on the crabs, lobsters and shrimps found in the waters round Britain.

• Decapod Crabs

  http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/decapods.html
  A useful guide to Australian crabs and their biology, providing for each species a description and details of distribution, habitat and biology.

• Decorator Crabs

  http://www-eve.ucdavis.edu/stachowicz/decorator.shtml
  Information and photographs of brachyuran crabs in the superfamily Majoidea that have the unusual habit of decorating their carapace with bits of algae and invertebrates.

• Dominance in Crayfish.

  http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/21/8/2759
  Article from the Journal of Neuroscience on patterns of behavior, including the activation of neural circuits, during the formation of a dominance hierarchy in crayfish.

• Edible Crab

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Cancer.htm
  Several photographs of the edible or brown crab, Cancer pagurus, and its discarded exoskeleton.

• Edible Crab: Cancer pagurus

  http://www.arkive.org/edible-crab/cancer-pagurus/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Fiddler Crabs (Genus Uca)

  http://www.fiddlercrab.info/
  Much information on these crabs, their classification, systematics, phylogeny, morphology, life cycle and range.

• Field Guide to Kenyan Mangroves

  http://www.madeinnys.com/mangrove/
  An introduction to flora and fauna of mangrove habitats in Kenya, with a focus on crabs.

• Flat-clawed Hermit Crab

  http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=SC0028
  Photograph and description of Pagurus pollicaris.

• Giant Freshwater Crayfish: Astacopsis gouldi

  http://www.arkive.org/giant-freshwater-crayfish/astacopsis-gouldi/
  Information from ARKive on this rare Australian species.

• Hairy Crab

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Pilumnus.htm
  Several photographs of this crab, Pilumnus hirtellus, which is characterised by unequal sized claws.

• Kiwa Hirsuta

  http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Erwendzic/435/
  Provides information on this deep sea species, first discovered in 2001, its discovery, appearance, habitat and nutrition.

• Kiwa hirsuta: The Yeti Crab

  http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/decker_rour
  Research project by Rourke Decker at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

• Krill

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krill
  Information from Wikipedia on these minute crustaceans that form an important part of the food chain for many larger animals.

• Land Crabs in the Bahamas.

  http://www.motygido.co.uk/bahamas_crabs.htm
  Rod Attrill’s article outlines the strange life of Cardisoma guanhumi, and the mosquito and fish that share its burrow.

• Long-clawed Hermit Crab

  http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=SC0027
  Photograph and description of Pagurus longicarpus.

• Long-legged Spider Crab

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Macropod.htm
  Several photographs of this crab, Macropodia rostrata.

• Masked Crab: Corystes cassivelaunus

  http://www.arkive.org/masked-crab/corystes-cassivelaunus/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Panulirus argus: Spiny Lobster

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/panuli_argus.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Penaeus aztecus: Brown Shrimp

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Penaeu_aztecu.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Penaeus duorarum: Pink Shrimp

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Penaeu_duorar.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Penaeus setiferus: White Shrimp

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Penaeu_setife.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Petrolisthes armatus: Green Porcelain Crab

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Petrolisthes_armatus.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances, ecology and invasive information.

• Prawns and Shrimps

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/portfol5.htm
  Photographs and information on species found round the coasts of Britain, with help in distinguishing a prawn from a shrimp.

• Ray Bauer Research: Marine Biology and Shrimps

  http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~rtb6933/shrimp/
  Research projects by Bauer and students on caridean and penaeid shrimps and other decapod crustaceans, emphasizing mating systems, breeding, hermaphroditism, coloration, grooming, fouling, seagrass fauna, publications.

• Red Crab - Gecarcoidea natalis

  http://www.christmas.net.au/parks/crabs/
  Description, bulletins, diet, habitat, breeding, migration, and human impact on the most populous crab species on Christmas Island.

• Red King Crab

  http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2007/luchsing_sara/
  Research project by Sarah Luchsinger on Paralithodes camtschatica, including its classification, habitat, adaptation, nutrition, reproduction and interactions with other species.

• Scylla serrata

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Scylla_serrata.htm
  Taxonomy and description of the serrated swimming crab, its habitat and distribution, life history, physical tolerances, community ecology and invasion information.

• Shore Crab

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/c-maenas.htm
  Several photographs of Carcinus maenas with information on its identification, breeding, habitat, food, range and bionomics.

• Sicyonia brevirostris: Brown Rock Shrimp

  http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Sicyon_brevir.htm
  Photograph of this species and information on its taxonomy, description, habitat and distribution, life history, population biology, physical tolerances and ecology.

• Spiny Spider Crab: Maja squinado

  http://www.glaucus.org.uk/spider.htm
  Photograph of a well-camouflaged crab and an article by Peter Glanvill on the behavior of this species. Also other photographs and accounts of sightings round the coasts of Britain.

• Sterrer’s Cave Shrimp: Parhippolyte sterreri

  http://www.arkive.org/sterrers-cave-shrimp/parhippolyte-sterreri/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• The American Lobster: Homarus americanus

  http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/hill_whit
  Research project by Whitney Hill at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

• The Lobster Institute

  http://umaine.edu/lobsterinstitute/
  A cooperative program of research and education with the lobster industry at the University of Maine. Information generated through the Institute about the American lobster (Homarus americanus) is intended to help conserve and enhance the resource, thereby ensuring the continuance of a strong and healthy industry in the state and the region.

• The Red Mangrove-tree Crab

  http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay01/hmcrab.html
  Photographic study of this crustacean by Hugh Mitchell-Tapping with close-ups of various appendages and information and photographs of developing larvae.

• The White Shrimp: Penaeus setiferus

  http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/stofflet_hann
  Research project by Hannah Stofflet at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

• Velvet Swimming Crab: Necora puber

  http://www.arkive.org/velvet-swimming-crab/necora-puber/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Whiteleg Shrimp

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_white_shrimp
  Information from Wikipedia on Litopenaeus vannamei from the Eastern Pacific, a species widely grown in shrimp farms for use as food.

• Wikipedia: Decapoda

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapoda
  Encyclopedia article covering the order, with details of anatomy, classification, and photos of sample species.

• Yabbie Crayfish: Cherax destructor

  http://www.arkive.org/yabbie-crayfish/cherax-destructor/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Yeti Crab: Kiwa hirsuta

  http://www.animals-pictures-dictionary.com/rec/468-Yeti-Crab/
  Information and a photograph of this crustacean discovered living in hydrothermal vents deep in the Pacific Ocean in 2005.

Related Categories

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