Echinoecus pentagonus

The "sea urchin crab" Echinoecus pentagonus is a species of crab in the family Pilumnidae found from the Red Sea and East Africa to French Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands.[2] This crab is a parasite that lives in the rectum of a sea urchin. In Hawaii, it chooses only Echinothrix calamaris, leaving few of these urchins unpopulated. Its curved and pointed carapace reaches only 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) in width.[3]

Echinoecus pentagonus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Infraorder:
Brachyura
Superfamily:
Pilumnoidea
Family:
Pilumnidae
Genus:
Echinoecus
Species:
E. pentagonus
Binomial name
Echinoecus pentagonus

Taxonomic synonyms of E. pentagonus include:[4]

  • Echinoecus klunzingeri Miyake, 1939
  • Echinoecus pentagonus Rathbun, 1894
  • Echinoecus rathbunae Miyake, 1939
  • Eumedon convictor Bouvier & Seurat, 1906
  • Eumedon pentagonus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879
  • Eumedonus petiti Gravier, 1922
  • Liomedon pentagonus Klunzinger, 1906

References
  1. Sammy De Grave; N. Dean Pentcheff; Shane T. Ahyong; et al. (2009). "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 21: 138. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06.
  2. "Echinoecus pentagonus (Milne-Edwards, 1879)". SeaLifeBase. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  3. John P. Hoover (2007). Hawaiian Sea Creatures. Mutual Publishing. ISBN 1-56647-220-2.
  4. P. Davie (2010). "Echinoecus pentagonus". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved December 22, 2010.


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