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Pinnixa tubicola Holmes, 1894
Tube-Dwelling Pea Crab
Family: Pinnotheridae

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

Photograph

© Aaron Baldwin     (Photo ID #44889)

Map

E-Fauna BC Static Map

Distribution of Pinnixa tubicola in British Columbia in British Columbia

Species Information

Male carapace smooth and hard and twice as wide as long. Abdomen wide and telson wider than long and distally curved. Female carapace smooth and hard and 2 ½ times as wide as long. In both sexes the chelipeds are stout, with median teeth on fingers and the tips curved. Walking legs flattened laterally and last three with propodi much wider than dactyls.

Size

Carapace: male 4.5 x 10 mm, female 6 x 15 mm.

Colour

Carapace patterned symmetrically in light and dark brown, grey and opaque white. Chelipeds white with patches of brown, red or orange; fingers and teeth white distally. Walking legs white with dark brown streaks and reticulated areas; margins of joints white banded; claws light coloured. Eyestalk ivory; cornea red with gold flecks.

Habitat


Commensal in parchment-like tubes of terebellid worms. In British Columbia Eupolymnia heterobranchia is often attached to the undersides of rocks intertidally and broken shells and gravel are stuck to the outside of the tube. A pair of these crabs frequently share the worm’s tube.

Distribution

Range

Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to San Diego, California; intertidal to 57 m.
Distribution In British Columbia

Widespread but often missed in general collecting.

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