Paromola cuvieri explained

Paromola cuvieri is a species of crab in the family Homolidae, the carrier crabs. It occurs in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, from Angola to Norway, the Northern Isles and Iceland.^{[1] [2]} It is demersal, occurring at depths of 10m–1212mm (30feet–3,976feetm), but it is primarily found deeper than 80m (260feet). It prefers areas with mud and emerging rocks, and has been observed in deep-water coral gardens and sponge aggregations.^{[3] [4]} It is locally common.^[5]

This reddish crab is sexually dimorphic; the males have larger claws and are overall larger than the females.^[6] The carapace of the largest males can reach 21.5cm (08.5inches), while their claws can span 1.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on.^[6] Like other members of the family, most P. cuvieri in their natural habitat carry an object, typically a living sessile invertebrate such as a sponge or deep-water coral, over the carapace in the small hindlegs.^{[3] [4]} This may be used as camouflage, but is also used actively in defense by positioning the object between the crab and a would-be attacker.^[3] P. cuvieri is a scavenger of a wide range of animal matters,^[3] and a predator of animals such as decapods, but only rarely takes small benthic species (glycerids, cumaceans and amphipods).^[5]

Notes and References

1. Isabella Gordon. Gordon. Isabella . 1956 . Paromola cuvieri (Risso), a crab new to the Orkneys, Shetlands and Norway. . 178 . 4543 . 1184–1185 . 10.1038/1781184a0. 1956Natur.178.1184G. 4281223 .
2. Lilliendahl. Kristján . Einarsson . Sólmundur T. . Pálsson . Jónbjörn . 2005. Two species of rare crabs, Paralomis spectabilis and Paromola cuvieri Crustacea, Decapoda, in Icelandic waters. Tvær sjaldgæfar tegundir skjaldkrabba Decapoda við Ísland. Icelandic, English . Natturufraedingurinn . Hið íslenska náttúrufræðifélag . 733. 3–4. 89–94.
3. Capezzuto. Maiorano. Porzia. Panza. Michele. Indennidate. Antonella. Sion. Letizia. D'Onghia . Gianfranco. 2011. Occurrence and behaviour of Paromola cuvieri (Crustacea, Decapoda) in the Santa Maria di Leuca cold-water coral community (Mediterranean Sea). Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers . 53. 1–7. 10.1016/j.dsr.2011.10.006. Francesca. 2012DSRI...59....1C.
4. Andreia Braga-Henriques . Marina Carreiro-Silva . Fernando Tempera . Filipe Mora Porteiro . Kirsten Jakobsen . Joachim Jakobsen . Mónica Albuquerque . Ricardo Serrão Santos . 2012 . Carrying behavior in the deep-sea crab Paromola cuvieri (Northeast Atlantic) . Marine Biodiversity . 42 . 1 . 37–46 . 10.1007/s12526-011-0090-3. 10072917 .
5. Cartes, J.E. . 1993 . Diets of deep-sea brachyuran crabs in the Western Mediterranean Sea . Marine Biology . 117 . 3 . 449–457 . 10.1007/BF00349321. 55344820 .
6. Thurston. 1987. Record breaking crab is not such a strange catch. New Scientist . 114. 1554. 24. Mike.