Chaceon affinis explained

Chaceon affinis is a deep-sea crab in the family Geryonidae. It was fist described in 1894 based on specimens caught off the Azores by the yacht L'Hirondelle. The species is found in the Atlantic from 140 to 2000 metres deep. They have a carapace length of 8 to 12 cm.^[1]

They are rarely caught by traditional fishers and most have been obtained using baited traps. Direct observations using unmanned submersibles have shown large numbers of them around hydrothermal vents.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Pinho . Mário R . Gonçalves . João M . Martins . Helen R . Menezes . Gui M . 2001 . Some aspects of the biology of the deep-water crab, Chaceon affinis (Milne-Edwards and Bouvier, 1894) off the Azores . Fisheries Research . en . 51 . 2–3 . 283–295 . 10.1016/S0165-7836(01)00252-1. 2001FishR..51..283P .
2. Biscoito . Manuel . Saldanha . Luiz . 2000 . Occurrence of Chaceon Affinis (Decapoda: Geryonidae) in the Vicinity of a Hydrothermal Vent Site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . Journal of Crustacean Biology . en . 20 . 1 . 128–131 . 10.1163/20021975-99990022 . 0278-0372. free .