Erileptus spinosus Rathbun, 1893

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 215

Erileptus spinosus Rathbun, 1893

( Fig. 49 H, I)

Erileptus spinosus Rathbun, 1893: 227 . — Holmes 1900: 21. — Rathbun 1904: 171, pl. 10, fig. 1; 1925: 68, pls. 212, 213, text fig. 18. — Weymouth 1919: 27, pl. 3, fig. 7. — Garth 1958: 91, pl. E, fig. 8, pl. 5, fig. 2. — Wicksten 1980c: 361. — Jensen 1995: 26, fig. 28. — Hendrickx 1999: 12, fig. 5.

Anasimus spinosus .— Schmitt 1921: 196, text figs. 121a, b.

Diagnosis. Rostrum strongly sexually dimorphic. Male with slender, spinulous rostrum, about 0.5 times length of postfrontal portion of carapace. Carapace spinulous: 2 spines on median line, one long spine on branchial region with small spine in front of it, 2 on margin; spine on margin of hepatic region, 2 very small ones arranged transversely on gastric region; slender spine on orbital arch. Prominent supraorbital spine, postorbital spine small, distant from eye. Abdomen with spine on segment 1. Chelipeds nearly 3 times as long as carapace, granulate; merus with one spine at anterior margin, hand slender, slightly flattened vertically, fingers gaping. Pereopods 2–5 slender, decreasing regularly in length from anterior to posterior. Female with slender, upcurved, spinulous rostrum. Carapace with 2 median spines, 2 spines on each branchial region, spine on each protogastric region, lateral margins spinulous, surface pubescent. Prominent suprorbital spine. Abdomen with spine on segment 1, smaller spine on segment 2. Chelipeds weak, margins of merus spinulous, slender spine near carpus, hand slender, granulous, fingers in contact. Pereopods 2–5 slender, pubescent, decreasing in length from anterior to posterior. Dactyls of pereopods 2–5 slender, spinulous in both sexes. Male carapace length 11 mm, female 5.7 mm

Color in life. Dull brown to grayish. The color notes are from crabs taken at Santa Catalina I.

Habitat and depth. Usually shelly sand, often in steeply sloping areas, 4–554 m.

Range. San Miguel I., California to Magdelana Bay , Baja California; Gulf of California from Rocky Point, Sonora south to Cardones I., Panama. Type locality off San Diego, California .

Remarks. This small crab is especially common on "shell hash" bottoms along the islands of southern California.