Portunus xantusii xantusii (Stimpson, 1860)

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 237

Portunus xantusii xantusii (Stimpson, 1860)

( Fig. 55E, Pl. 14G)

Achelous xantusii Stimpson, 1860: 222 .

Portunus xantusii . — Holmes 1900: 71. — Rathbun 1904: 179; 1930: 50, pl. 18. — Weymouth 1910: 49, pl 12, fig. 35. — Schmitt 1921: 237, text fig. 141. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 384, fig. 339. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 322, fig. 248. — Jensen 1995: 32, fig. 46.

Portunus xantusii xantusii . — Garth & Stephenson, 1966: 32, pl. IV, fig. A; pl. VII, fig. B; pl. IX, fig. B; pl. XI, fig. B. — Garth & Abbott 1980: 602, fig. 25.14.

Diagnosis. Carapace broad, pilose, posterolateral cornerrounded. Front advanced, with 4 lobes. Orbital region with inner supraorbital angle partially subdivided, supraorbital fissures open to closed. Supraorbital tooth acute to blunt, suborbital fissure open. Anterolateral tooth 1 blunt, tooth 5 stouter than teeth 4 or 6, tooth 9 long. Third maxilliped with anteroexternal angle of merus not produced laterally. Chelipeds moderately long, robust, with 4–6 spines on anterior border. Carpus with inner, outer spines moderatel well developed, fingers of chela short and stout. Pereopod 5 with posterodistal border of merus having spinules. Male carapace length to 70.7 mm, female to 55.9 mm.

Color in life. Speckled with gray, black or white, pereopods 2–5 with white, brown bands; apices of chelae, other legs pinkish ( Garth & Stephenson 1966). Camouflaged like sand.

Habitat and depth. Usually on sand, intertidal to 181 m but usually shallow, capable of swimming to surface.

Range. South of Santa Cruz I. and SE of Santa Barbara Point , California to Marquis Point, Baja California; and from San Ignacio Bay to near Piaxtla Point, Sinaloa, Mexico . Type locality Cape San Lucas. Other subspecies range into the Gulf of California and south to Colombia