Pleistacantha maxima

Pleistacantha maxima
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Oregoniidae
Genus: Pleistacantha
Species:
P. maxima
Binomial name
Pleistacantha maxima
Ahyong & Lee, 2006[1]

Pleistacantha maxima is a species of spider crab. It ranges from Sagami Bay and Okinawa Island in Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Queensland in Australia. The species inhabits depths of 100–480 m (330–1,570 ft).[2]

Description

The carapace is pyriform with a postrostral carapace length 1.2–1.3 times the width. The postrostral carapace length to width ratio ranges from 1.24–1.34 (mean 1.27) for all specimens and 1.24–1.30 (mean 1.27) for mature specimens only. The gastric and branchial spines are proportionally much longer than in Pleistacantha oryx, being as long as or longer than the anterior hepatic spine.

Its walking legs are long and slender, decreasing in length posteriorly. P2 measures about 3.2–3.5 times the postrostral carapace length in males and 2.2–3.1 times in females. The interantennular spine is bifurcated in the distal third or quarter and divergent.[2]

References

  1. ^ Ahyong, Shane T.; Lee, Timothy (2006). "Two new species of Pleistacantha Miers, 1879 from the Indo-West Pacific region (Crustacea, Decapoda, Majidae)". Zootaxa. 1378 (1): 1–17. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1378.1.1.
  2. ^ a b "Pleistacantha maxima Ahyong & Lee, 2006, sp. nov. – Plazi TreatmentBank". treatment.plazi.org. Retrieved 2025-07-04.