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Pachycheles pubescens Holmes, 1900
Pubescent Porcelain Crab
Family: Porcellanidae

Species account author: Josephine Hart.
Extracted from Crabs and their relatives of British Columbia.

Photograph

© Aaron Baldwin     (Photo ID #2407)

Map

E-Fauna BC Static Map

Distribution of Pachycheles pubescens in British Columbia in British Columbia

Species Information

Carapace convex and slightly broader than long; front masked by dense pubescence, longest medially. Chelipeds with granules nearly covered by dense pubescence and longer bristles. Telson of 7 plates. Male with paired gonopods on 2nd segment of abdomen. Female with paired uniramous pleopods on segments 3 to 5.

Size

Carapace: male 18 x 18.5 mm, female 17 x 17.5 mm.

Colour

Carapace white, dappled with brown, grey and purple, with a blue and tan “comma” on each branchial area. Cheliped colour masked by mud-coloured pubescence; granules pale violet. Finger tips may be pink. Walking legs with merus blue and brown with variations in depth of colour which creates a banded appearance. Propodus and dactyl with distal white bands. Eyestalk dark brown and white; cornea red-brown with black centre.

Habitat


Rocky areas, occasionally intertidally but usually subtidally on exposed coast. Male and female cohabit.

Distribution

Range

Bush Rock, Huston Inlet, south side Skincuttle Inlet, Queen Charlotte Islands (52°18’N, 131°16.5’W), British Columbia, to Thurloe Head, Baja California, Mexico; intertidal to 55 m.
Distribution In British Columbia

Open coast and, rarely, as far east as Victoria.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)
COSEWIC
UnlistedUnlistedUnlistedUnlisted



BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer--the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

General References