Metacarcinus magister (Dana, 1852)

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 231

Metacarcinus magister (Dana, 1852)

( Fig. 54C, Pl. 14A)

Cancer magister Dana, 1852: 73 . — Holmes 1900: 50. — Rathbun 1904: 177; 1930: 222, text figs. 35, 36. — Weymouth 1910: 42, pl. 9, fig. 25. — Schmitt 1921: 229, text fig. 138. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 379, fig. 335. — Phillips 1939: 21, fig. 15. — Nations 1975: 37, figs. 17AB, 18AB, 23, 34-1, 34-2. — Garth & Abbott 1980: 605, Fig. 25.20. — Hart 1982: 212, fig. 87. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 199, fig. 170. — Jensen & Armstrong 1987: 216. — Jensen 1995: 27, fig. 31. — Kuris et al. 2007: 641.

Metacarcinus magister . — Schweitzer & Feldmann 2000: 235.

Diagnosis. Front of carapace not produced, with 3 small median teeth. Carapace granulate, widest at anterolateral tooth 10, no eleventh tooth, anterolateral teeth serrate anteriorly. Carpus of cheliped with single distal tooth, palm with dorsal serrate ridge having conspicuous teeth, ridges on sides; movable finger with dorsal teeth, lateral ridges. Merus of third maxilliped widened distally, its anterior margin forming obtuse angle with outer margin. Pereopods 2–5 broad, flat. Carapace length 120.7 mm.

Color in life. Carapace brown to gray, lower surface, appendages creamy white to yellowish. Fingers of chelipeds light-colored. The color notes are from crabs from Princeton Harbor, San Mateo County; and Coyote Point, San Francisco Bay, California.

Habitat and depth. Bays, harbors, sandy beaches, eelgrass flats, sandy areas of continental shelf, low intertidal zone to 230 m.

Range. North and east of St. George I., Pribilof Is. to Pismo Beach, California. Old records from Santa Barbara, California and Magdalena Bay, Baja California are unconfirmed. Type locality San Francisco Bay .

Remarks. The Dungeness crab is the most important commercial crab of the Pacific coast of the United States. Adult crabs usually are trapped off shore, but juveniles often can be found in bays and harbors at low tide. Very small juveniles and megalops larvae sometimes ride on medusae and the by-the-wind sailor Velella sp. ( Wickham 1979) .