Deilocerus planus ( Rathbun, 1900 )

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 205

Deilocerus planus ( Rathbun, 1900)

( Fig. 47E, F)

Cyclodorippe plana Rathbun, 1900: 519 . — Schmitt 1921: 186, fig. 115.

Clythrocerus planus . — Rathbun 1904: 168, pl. 9, fig. 4; 1937: 114, text fig. 29, pl. 34, figs. 1 2. — Wicksten 1980c: 361; 1982: 306.

Deilocerus planus . — Tavares 1993: 140. — Hendrickx 1997: 43, fig. 47.

Diagnosis. Similar to D. decorus except frontal lobes ending in blunt teeth, carapace minutely granulate to smooth. Male carapace length 3.4 mm, female 2.8 mm.

Color in life. Pale-dark gray to whitish. The color notes are from crabs from Catalina I.

Habitat and depth. Among broken shells, 20–60 m.

Range. Santa Catalina I. , California to Gulf of California. Type locality "southern California at Catalina Harbor (probably)" [sic] ( Rathbun 1937) .

Remarks. These small crabs carry pieces of shell, pebbles, sticks, or algae over their carapaces by means of the specialized hind legs (Wicksten 1982). They are abundant on "shell hash" bottoms along the offshore islands of California, rarely occurring along the mainland coast except in areas of steep rocky bottoms.