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Platyxanthus crenulatus

Platyxanthus crenulatus
Platyxanthus crenulatus.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Platyxanthidae
Genus: Platyxanthus
Species: P. crenulatus
Binomial name
Platyxanthus crenulatus
A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

Platyxanthus crenulatus is a species of crab in the family Platyxanthidae. The species is found along the sublittoral zone of the western Atlantic in the waters of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, associated mostly with hard bottoms. Adults are robust and conspicuous crabs, with a smooth carapace, dorsally purple and white ventrally. Their claws have marked heterochely and right-handedness (i.e. dimorphism between chelae and the tendency of bearing the major claw on the right-hand side of the body), traits associated with shell-breaking feeding habits. Due to its abundance, large size and diet, P. crenulatus presumably has an important ecological role as a predator in benthic communities.



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