Hapalogaster cavicauda Stimpson, 1859

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 164

Hapalogaster cavicauda Stimpson, 1859

(Pl. 6G)

Hapalogaster cavicauda Stimpson, 1859: 81 , pl. 1, fig. 7. — Bouvier 1895: 166, pl. 12, fig. 29. — Holmes 1900: 113. — Schmitt 1921: 149, pl. 29, fig. 1; fig. 9. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 337, fig. 286.— MacGinitie & MacGinitie 1968: 299. — Haig & Abbott 1980: 582, fig. 24.6. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 171, fig. 140. — Dawson 1989: 319. — Jensen 1995: 69, fig. 134. — Hendrickx & Harvey 1999: 374. — Kuris et al. 2007: 648.

Diagnosis. Body and legs very flat, covered with dense, short setae. Carapace with front bearing medial tooth, lateral teeth, prominent cervical groove, widest behind midlength. Chelipeds unequal in size, hand of larger chela with 1 or 2 small tubercles on inner surface. Pereopods 2–4 with deep incisions on anterior margins; these hidden by setae. Abdomen bulbous, visible in dorsal view. Carapace length 18.3 mm.

Color in life. Yellowish brown. The color note is based on crabs from Mendocino, Mendocino County, Calfiornia.

Habitat and depth. Under rocks in low intertidal zone, intertidal zone to 15 m.

Range. Washington; Cape Mendocino , California to San Jeronimo I ., Baja California but uncommon south of Monterey Bay , California. Type locality Monterey , California.

Remarks. Schmitt (1921) cited H. grebnitzkii Schalfeev, 1892 from "Humboldt Bay, California.” There are no other reports of the species from California. Hart (1982) gave the southern geographic limit of this species as Puget Sound, Washington. The record by Schmitt may have come from Humboldt Bay, Alaska instead of California (J. Haig, pers. comm.)

Hendrickx & Harvey (1999) reported H. cavicauda from Guaymas, Sonora, Gulf of California. This record surely is in error. This may be a misidentification of Petrolisthe s hirtipes Lockington, 1878 (Porcellanidae) .