''Panopeus herbstii'' (the ''black-fingered mud crab'', ''black-clawed mud crab'', ''Atlantic mud crab'' or sometimes ''common mud crab'') is a
true crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...
, belonging to the
infraorder
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
Brachyura, and is the largest of the mud crabs.
''Panopeus herbstii'' is small, growing to about 4 cm, with black-tipped
claw
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...
s of unequal size. ''P. herbstii'' has a strong
exoskeleton
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...
, with very thick and strong claws. The shell is a dull gray and brown color.
''Panopeus herbstii'' is found along the
Atlantic coast of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, from
Boston, Massachusetts to
Santa Catarina,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and on
Bermuda
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. It is the most common
xanthid crab on the east coast of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
It is found on muddy bottoms, where it takes refuge under stones and shells or among
sponge
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...
s and weeds, but it is rarely seen in the open. It feeds mainly on young
clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two she ...
s,
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
s, and
periwinkles; it cracks open their shells with its strong claws. Mud crabs are especially fond of
hermit crab
Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an a ...
s, which are grasped by the legs and pulled out of their protective shells. Like most mud crabs, it is a scavenger. Young ''P. herbstii'' are an important food source to other marine animals. It mainly eats oysters.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6499334
Xanthoidea
Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean
Crustaceans described in 1834
Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards