Armed Box Crab, Platymera gaudichaudii

Armed Box Crab, Platymera gaudichaudii. Crab provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, March 2010. Size: 8.5 cm (3.3 inches) x 5.5 cm (2.1 inches).

General information: The Armed Box Crab, Platymera gaudichaudii, is one of thirty-nine members of the Calappidae or Box Crab Family known in Mexico as cangrejo cajeta bolas. In Mexico they are known as cajeta paco.

Identification: The Armed Box Crab has an oval carapace that is orange-brown in color that is covered with small brown spots which has a relatively flat surface, the carapace is broader than it is long and a large laterally directed tooth originates at the widest part. The eyes are rather close together. The shell is 1.6 times wider than it is long. This is a fairly easy species to identify due to presence of a single long spine on the margin of the shell, the relatively smooth margins of the shell, and the box crab like claw. The Armed Box Crab are dimorphic with males being larger (10.4 cm or 4.1 inches) than females (6.4 cm or 2.5 inches).

Habitat and Range: The Armed Box Crabs are found in and within all types of terrain at depths between 30 m ( 100 feet) and 107 m (350 feet). In Mexican waters they are found in all waters of the Pacific with the exception that they are absent from the upper three-fourths of the Sea of Cortez. This species is a frequent by-catch of deep water shrimp trawlers and normally discarded.

Diet: The Armed Box Crab are omnivorous crabs that feed on algae, carrion, and gastropods.

Conservation Status:  From a conservation perspective the Armed Box Crab has not been formally evaluated. However, they are common and of limited interest to most and should be considered to be of Least Concern.

Synonym:  Platymera californiensis