Pirimela | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Family: | Carcinidae |
Genus: | Pirimela Leach, 1816 |
Species: | P. denticulata
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Binomial name | |
Pirimela denticulata (Montagu, 1808)
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Synonyms [1] | |
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Pirimela is a genus of crab containing a single species, Pirimela denticulata.
Pirimela denticulata is a "small, pretty crab",[2] up to 12 mm (0.5 in) long and 15 mm (0.6 in) across the carapace.[3] Its colouring is mostly green, with mottling of brown, purple or red.[2] The front edge of the carapace has three teeth between the eyes, two teeth around the orbits of the eyes and five teeth along either side.[2]
Pirimela denticulata is found from the British Isles to Mauritania, the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands, and the Azores.[4] It lives in burrows in sandy sediments, or on underwater vegetation, at depths of up to 250 m (820 ft).[4]
Pirimela denticulata was first described by George Montagu in 1808, under the name Cancer denticulata.[5] It was later transferred by William Elford Leach to his new genus Pirimela, which contains only P. denticulata.[6] A second species of Pirimela, P. princeps, is now considered to be synonymous with P. denticulata.[1]