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Pleistacantha

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Pleistacantha
Pleistacantha kannu
A. male, B. female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Oregoniidae
Genus: Pleistacantha
Miers, 1879
Type species
Pleistacantha sanctijohannis
Miers, 1879[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Echinoplax Miers, 1885

Pleistacantha is a genus of crabs in the family Oregoniidae.[3] The genus occurs throughout many coasts in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.[2]

Description

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Its carapace is pyriform and has a rostrum of two slender spines (sometimes with accessory spines); interantennular partition with a well developed, sometimes bifid, spine at its apex ventrally; carpus of cheliped with many spines or tubercles. Like Trichoplatus, Its supraorbital eave moderately produced, margin convex, smooth; propodi of all ambulatory legs flattened and strongly widened distally. [4]

Taxonomy

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Pleistacantha was described by zoologist Edward J. Miers in 1879.[1] Its name is derived from the Greek roots pleistos (πλεῖστος), a superlative meaning "many", and acantha (άκανθα), meaning "spine".[1] In 2013, evidence that the family Inachoididae was not monophyletic prompted carcinologists to move Pleistacantha and several other genera into the family Oregoniidae.[5]

Species

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The following species are recognized in this genus:[3][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Miers 1879, p. 24.
  2. ^ a b c "Pleistacantha Miers, 1879". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b Ahyong, Shane T. (19 July 2024). "Pleistacantha Miers, 1879". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  4. ^ Gordon Griffin, Darryl John (1986) [1986]. "The Decapoda Brachyura of the Siboga Expedition" (PDF).
  5. ^ Poore & Ahyong 2023, p. 578.

Works cited

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Further reading

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