Paguristes ulreyi Schmitt, 1921

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 178-179

Paguristes ulreyi Schmitt, 1921

( Fig. 40K–N, Pl. 8G)

Paguristes ulreyi Schmitt, 1921: 125 , pl. 18, figs. 3, 4, 5, 7. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 333.— Haig et al. 1970: 18. — McLaughlin 1974: 19, figs. 7–9. — Hart 1982: 106, fig. 37. — Wicksten 1988b: 321. — Jensen 1995: 67, fig. 128. — Kuris et al. 2007: 648.

Diagnosis. Rostrum triangular, acute, reaching to base of eye scales, exceeding lateral projections of carapace. Eyestalk long, slender; as long as or longer than anterior carapace width. Ocular scales each with 4–5 spiniform teeth. Second antennae with thick setae on lower surface, shorter setae above. Chelipeds equal, densely setose; merus with spines on anterior edge, inner border of lower face, carpus with 5 stout spines on upper inner edge; upper surface of hand with dark-tipped spines, inner edge of palm proximal to dactyl with 3 prominent spines. Hands about 0.33–0.5 times longer than wide. Pereopods 2, 3 very setose, their dactyls slightly shorter than the propodi. Pereopod 2 with spines along margin of dactyl, propodus, carpus, pereopod 3 with less prominent spines. Telson asymmetrical, deeply notched along lateral margins, posterior end; posterior margin, posterolateral edge with teeth. Carapace length to 32.3 mm.

Color in life. Orange to dark brown, covered by dense golden setae, often with white spots on maxillipeds. The color notes are based on crabs from Monterey Bay and Redondo Beach, California .

Habitat and depth. Sandy or rocky subtidal areas, rarely cast ashore after storms; 0–157 m.

Range. Frederick I., British Columbia to Pacific coast of Baja California and Punta Gorda, Gulf of California , Mexico. Type locality off Point Loma, San Diego, California, Albatross sta. 4303 .

Remarks. This is one of the largest hermit crabs of California and Oregon. It is common in kelp beds and rocky subtidal areas. The crab can use its third maxillipeds and setose antennae to capture particles used as food. It also may scavenge on remains left by other predators. I observed an aggregation of more than 20 of these hermit crabs next to a feeding sea star, Pisaster giganteus (Stimpson, 1857) .

The crabs inhabit a great variety of shells, but especially those of Astraea spp. and Kelletia kelletii (Forbes, 1852) in southern California. Often, algae, polychaete worms and even small corals encrust the shells. Slipper shells ( Crepipatella spp. ) often live inside the aperture of the shells.