''Cirolana cranchii'' is a species of

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

crustacean.

History and etymology

''Cirolana cranchii'' was described by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in 1818; he named the genus

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atically after an unknown woman called Caroline/Carolina, and the species after his friend and collector John Cranch. ''C. cranchii'' is the type species of the genus ''Cirolana'', which in turn is the type genus for the family Cirolanidae. The type locality is Cornwall, Great Britain.

Distribution

The species is found around the British Isles and the northwestern coasts of Portugal, Spain and France, with the greatest abundance around the western coasts of Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany. The species has also been recorded from the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and the coasts of Australia. Bruce and Ellis consider only the eastern North Atlantic and Mediterranean records reliable.

Description

The adult male is between 9.0 and 19.1 mm long and about 3 times as long as it is wide. The head (cephalon) lacks a forward-pointing spine (rostral process). The body consists of 11 visible segments each covered in a smooth dorsal scale behind the head, with a triangular tail (pleotelson). There are six joints to the abdomen. The legs are used for walking and have small claws. Tail paddles (uropods) extend beyond the point of the tail. The female has a wider pleotelson and non-angled uropods, and lacks the dense bristles (setae) on these parts. Females are between 9.6 and 19.2 mm long. Young males resemble females.

References

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q20686222 Cymothoida Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1818 Taxa named by William Elford Leach