''Cirolana cranchii'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
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
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
.
History and etymology
''Cirolana cranchii'' was described by the English zoologist
William Elford Leach
William Elford Leach Royal Society, FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist.
Life and work
Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a me ...
in 1818; he
named the genus anagram
An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...
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
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, 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.[
]
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
External links
Photographs
{{Taxonbar, from=Q20686222
Cymothoida
Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean
Crustaceans described in 1818
Taxa named by William Elford Leach