Depressed Spider Crab

Appearance

Carapace elongate-ovate, depressed, regions ill defined, gastric region convex, cardiac slightly concave, surface with unequal rounded tubercles, in the cardiac-intestinal region a plum blossom-shaped one. Branchial region with two patches of tubercles. Front produced and broadly beaked, furcated at tip, closely covered with curled long setae at the inner border. Eyestalks short and stout. Basal segment of the antenna stout, flagellum short and small.
Chelipeds not stouter than ambulatory legs. Palm long, more than twice as long as the movable finger. Fingers not gaping. Dactylus claw-shaped, inner border finely toothed.
First pleopod of the male with a styliform chitinous process, with long hairs distally. Abdomen elongate; sixth segment trapezoid, its basal part slightly broader than long; telson short and triangular in shape. Abdomen of female ovate, telson triangular. Carapace length of the male 13.5 mm, breadth 5.4 mm; of the female, length 14.2 mm, breadth 6.1 mm. (Dai & Yang, 1991)

Naming

Parent
Xenocarcinus White, 1847
Orig. name
Xenocarcinus depressus Miers, 1874

Distribution

Type locality: Cape Howe, New South Wales, Australia.
Range: Japan - Yoron-jima and Taketomi-jima, Okinawa (Sakai, 1976a); China - Paracel Island (Chen, 1980), Hainan Island and Paracel Islands (Dai & Yang, 1991); Palau (Takeda, 1973d); Indonesia - Neira Banda (Griffin & Tranter, 1986a); Australia - Cape Howe, New South Wales (Miers, 1874), Bowen and Heron Island, Queensland (Griffin & Tranter, 1986a); New Caledonia - Poum (Takeda & Nunomura, 1976); Fiji; 8-20 m.

Habitat

Associate with gorgonians.