(Fabricius, 1787)

Carapace rhomboidal. Surface finely granulated, granules very close and coarse on marginal spines. Hepatic region separated from branchial region by a crease or a pucker. Rest of the region ill defined. The median line carinated. Branchial region with 2 oblique carinae. Front slightly projected, with 2 lobes, separated by the median V-shaped notch. The middle of the lateral margin with a slender sharp spine. Postero-lateral and posterior margins with 5 spines, the median one longer, the lateral one shorter, the one next to it the shortest.
Chelipeds symmetrical. Merus subcylindrical with fine granules, more closely spaced at its base. Carpus small. Fingers slender, longer than palm, inner borders finely serrated. Ambulatory legs slender. Merus with granules on its dorsal surface, dactylus fringed with short setae. Rest of the segments smooth.
First pleopod of the male slender and tapering, bluntly hollowed at the tip. Abdomen of the male sharp, triangular, third to fifth segments fused. Abdomen of the female elongate-rounded, third to sixth segments fused. Carapace length of the male 16.8-20 mm, breadth 15.7-18.7 mm; of the female, length 18.7 mm, breadth 18.5 mm (excluding lateral and posterior marginal spines). (Dai & Yang, 1991)

Type locality: Indian Ocean.
Range: Red Sea; Gulf of Aden (Galil, 2001a); Persian Gulf (Alcock, 1896); Strait of Hormuz (Stephensen, 1945); Mozambique Channel (Galil, 2001a); South Africa - (Galil, 2001a); off Zululand (Barnard, 1950); Madagascar (Galil, 2001a); Pakistan - Karachi (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); India - (Galil, 2001a); Madras coast, Gangetic and Mahanaddi Deltas (Alcock, 1896), Gulf of Kuchi (Chhapgar, 1957), Madras (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); Bay of Bengal (Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991); Arakan (Alcock, 1896); Andaman Islands (Alcock, 1896); Japan - Kobe and Seto-naikai (Miers, 1886); East China Sea; China - Hong Kong (Miers, 1886), near Hong Kong (Stimpson, 1907), Shaotsun, Tsimei, and Xiamen, Fujian Province (Shen, 1940b), Guangdong including Hainan Island (Dai & Yang, 1991); South China Sea; Vietnam; Thailand; Philippines - Manila Bay and north of Lubang Island (Serène & Vadon, 1981), north of Lubang, south of Manila Bay and north of Panay (Chen H., 1989); Indonesia - Java and west of Flores (Ihle, 1918); Fiji, New Caledonia, Australia (Galil, 2001a); 7-182 m.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocyemata
Infraorder Heterotremata
Superfamily Leucosioidea
Family Leucosiidae
Subfamily Philyrinae
Genus Arcania
Species Arcania septemspinosa

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Arcania septemspinosa (Fabricius, 1787)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Cancer septemspinosus Fabricius, 1787: 325. -- Herbst, 1790: 259, pl. 20, fig. 112.
Leucosia septemspinosa Fabricius, 1798: 351.
Iphis septemspinosa Leach, 1817: 25. -- Milne Edwards H., 1837: 139. -- Milne Edwards H., 1836-1844 (1837): pl. 25, fig. 4. -- Bell, 1855: 311. -- Stimpson, 1858c: 161. -- Miers, 1880b: 317. -- Stimpson, 1907: 157.
Arcania septemspinosa Miers, 1886: 300. -- Henderson, 1893: 403. -- Alcock, 1896: 265. -- Ihle, 1918: 265, 313(list). -- Chopra, 1933a: 43, fig. 5. -- Shen, 1940b: 71, 77. -- Stephensen, 1945: 73, fig. 7F. -- Barnard, 1950: 375, fig. 71f-g. -- Chhapgar, 1957b: 10, pl. 3, fig. a-c. -- Chen H., 1989a: 206, fig. 9, pl. 2, fig. 6. -- Dai & Yang, 1991: 71, fig. 32(3), pl. 7(8). -- Tirmizi & Kazmi, 1991: 72, fig. 21. -- Sakai K., 1999: 16, pl. 6D. -- Galil, 2001a: 193-195, figs 3B, 7B.
Arcania heptacantha (not de Haan, 1835) Serène & Vadon, 1981: 118, 120, 124.

Non Arcania septem-spinosa -- Bell, 1855: 310, pl. 34, fig. 7.
= Ixa pulcherrima (Haswell, 1880).

Fabricius-toge-kobushi [Japanese]
toge-kobushi, Fabricius- [Japanese]

Alcock, A.W., 1896. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 2. The Brachyura Oxystomata. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 65, part2(2): 134-296, pls 6-8.

Barnard, K.H., 1950. Descriptive catalogue of South African Decapod Crustacea (Crabs and Shrimps). Annals of the South African Museum, 38: 1-837, figs 1-154.

Bell, T., 1855. Horae Carcinologicae, or Notices of Crustacea. I. A monograph of Leucosiadae, with observations on the relations, structure, habits and distribution of the family; a revision of the generic characters and descriptions of new genera and species. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, (Zoology), 21(4): 277-314, pls 30-34. (Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, 3: 428-435. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (2) 16: 361-367.)

Chen, H., 1989. Leucosiidae (Crustacea, Brachyura). In: J. Forest (ed.), Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, Volume 5. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, Series A, 144: 181-263, figs 1-32, pls 1-6.

Chhapgar, B.F., 1957b. Marine Crabs of Bombay State. Taraporevala Marine Biological Station, Contribution number 1: v + 89 pp., pls A, B, 1-16.

Chopra, B.N., 1933a. Further notes on Crustacea Decapoda in the Indian Museum. III. On the Decapod Crustacea collected by the Bengal Pilot Service off the mouth of the River Hughli. Dromiacea and Oxystomata. Record of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, 35(1): 25-52, 7 figs. [1933/III]

Dai, A. & S. Yang, 1991. Crabs of the China Seas, i-iv, 1-608, figs 1-295, pls 1-74. China Ocean Press, Beijing and Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo, English edition. (Translation from Chinese original 1986.)

Fabricius, J.C., 1787. Mantissa Insectorum sustens eorum Species nuper detectas adjectis Characteribus genericis, Differentiis specificis, Emendationibus, Observationibus, 1: i-xx, 1-348. Hafniae.

Fabricius, J.C., 1798. Supplementatum Entomologiae systematicae, pp. 1-572. Hafniae, Proft & Storch.

Galil, B.S., 2001a. A revision of the genus Arcania Leach, 1817 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Leucosioidea). Zoologische Mededelingen, Leiden, 75(11): 169-205, figs 1-7.

Henderson, J.R., 1893. A contribution to Indian Carcinology. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, (series 2, Zoology) 5(1): 325-458, pls 36-40.

Herbst, J.F.W., 1790. Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse, nebst einer systematischen Beschreibung ihrer verschiedenen Arten, 1(8): 239-274, pls 18-21.

Ihle, J.E.W., 1918. Die Decapoda Brachyura der Siboga-Expedition. III. Oxystomata: Calappidae, Leucosiidae, Raninidae. Siboga Expeditie Monografie, 39(b2): 159-322, figs 78-148 (71 pls).

Leach, W.E., 1817. The Zoological Miscellany, being descriptions of new or interesting animals, illustrated with coloured figures, engraved from original drawings by R. P. Nodder. London. 3: i-vi, 1-151, pls 121-149.

Miers, E.J., 1880b. On a collection of Crustacea from the Malaysian Region. Part II. Thelphusidae, Catometopa, and Oxystomata. Annals and Magazine of natural History, (5) 5: 304-317, pl. 14.

Miers, E.J., 1886. Report on the Brachyura collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-1876. In: C.W. Thompson & J. Murray, Report on the Scientific Results of the exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-1876, under the command of Captain George S. Nares, R.N., F.R.S. and the Late Captain Frank Tourle Thomson, R.N., Zoology, 17(2): i-xli, 1-362, pls 1-29.

Milne-Edwards, H., 1836-1844. Crustacés. In: Cuvier, G., Le Règne animal, distribué d'après son organisation, pour sevir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux, et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée: 1-278, Atlas, pls 1-80. Paris. (According to Cowan (1976: 60), the text and plates of this work were published in 23 parts (livraisons) between September 1836 and March 1844. These parts are summarized here as follows: main part number (equivalent Crustacea part number): pages, plates, (date): 8(1): 1-8, pls 1, 7, 22, 26, September 1836; 20(2): 9-16, pls 2, 17, 24, 41, March 1837; 33(3): 17-24, pls 25, 42, 47, 48, October 1837; 38(4): 25-32, pls 37, 38, 44, 50, January 1838; 51(5): 33-40, pls 8, 20, 29, 33, July 1838; 60(6): 41-48, pls 9, 21, 27, 40, November 1838; 70(7): 49-56, pls 23, 30, 31, 45, April 1839; 73(8): 57-64, pls 43, 46, 58, 61, June 1839. 87(9): 65-72, pls 28, 49, 65, 66, January 1840; 90(10): 73-80, pls 3, 36, 71, 71bis, February 1840; 95(11): 81-88, pls 19, 32, 34bis, 67, May 1840; 99(12): 89-96, pls 10, 11bis, 34, 51, July 1840; 107(13): 97-104, pls 4, 12, 76, November 1840; 110(14): 105-112, pls 52, 53, 55, 59, December 1840; 118(15): 113-120, pls 5, 18, 54, 55bis, April 1841; 120(16): 121-128, pls 16, 39, 56, 77, May 1841; 149(17): 129-136, pls 6, 15, 35, 60, July 1842; 157(18): 137-144, pls 11, 14, 64, 69, November 1842; 176(19): 145-176, pls 13, 68, 70, July 1843; 180(20): 177-184, pls 57, 62, 62bis, 63, August 1843; 184(21): 185-216, pls 54bis, 74, 75, October 1843; 188(22): 217-248, pls 70bis, 72, 78, December 1843; 194(23): 249-278 + 5, pls 73, 79, 80, March 1844.)

Milne-Edwards, H., 1837. Histoire naturelle des Crustacés, comprenant l'anatomie, la physiologie et la classification de ces animaux. Libraire Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, Vol. 2: 1-532, pls 1-2, 7-8, 10, 14, 18-19, 21, 24. (See Holthuis, 1979, for dates of publication.)

Sakai, K., 1999. J.F.W. Herbst - collection of Decapod Crustacea of the Berlin Zoologica Museum, with remarks on certain species. Naturalists, Publications of Tokushima Biological Laboratory, Shikoku University, 6: 1-45, pls 1-21.

Serène, R. & C. Vadon, 1981. Crustacés Décapodes: Brachyoures. Liste préliminaire, description de formes nouvelles et remarques taxonomiques. In: Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, 1. Philippines (18-28 mars 1976), vol. 1, no. 5. Mémoires ORSTOM, 91: 117-140, figs 1-3, pls 1-4. (In French with English summary).

Shen, C.J., 1940b. On the collection of Crabs of South China. Bulletin of the Fan Memorial Institute of Biology (Zool.), Peiping, 10(2): 69-104.

Stephensen, K., 1945. The Brachyura of the Iranian Gulf with an Appendix: The male pleopod of the Brachyura. In: Danish Scientific Investigations in Iran, Part 4. Copenhagen, E. Munksgaard: 57-237, figs 1-60.

Stimpson, W., 1858c. Prodromus descriptionis animalium evertebratorum, quae in Expeditione ad Oceanum Pacificum Septentrionalem, a Republica Federata missa, Cadwaladaro Ringgold et Johanne Rodgers Ducibus, observavit et descripsit W. Stimpson. Pars VI. Crustacea Oxystomata. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 10: 159-164.

Stimpson, W., 1907. Report on the Crustacea (Brachyura and Anomura) collected by the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, 1853-1856. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Washington, 49(1717): 1-240, pls 1-26.

Tirmizi, N.M. & Q.B. Kazmi, 1991. Marine fauna of Pakistan: 4. Crustacea: Brachyura (Dromiacea, Archaeobrachyura, Oxystomata, Oxyrhyncha). Univ Karachi BCCI (Bank Credit Commer Int) Foundation Chair, Publication No. 1 (1988): 1-244, figs 1-65, pls 1-4.

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