Pugettia producta ( Randall, 1840 )

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 210

Pugettia producta ( Randall, 1840)

( Fig. 48D, Pl. 12B, C)

Epialtus productus Randall, 1840: 110 . — Holmes 1900: 22. — Rathbun 1904: 17. — Weymouth 1910: 28, fig.93. — Schmitt 1921: 201, text fig. 124. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 367, fig. 318.

Pugettia producta . — Rathbun 1925: 167, pls. 56–57, text figs. 62, 633. — Garth 1958: 188, pl. L, fig. 2, pl. 19. — Garth & Abbott 1980: 598, fig. 25.4. — Mastro 1981: 64. — Hart 1982: 184, fig. 73. — Wicksten & Bostick 1983: 364. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 134, fig. 106. — Jensen 1995: 22, fig. 16. — Hendrickx 1999: 110, pl. 2B. — Kuris et al. 2007: 641.

Diagnosis. Rostrum deeply notched, with hooked setae on horns. Carapace smooth, sides subparallel, with large hepatic tooth broadly but distantly joined with postorbital; large tooth midway between anterolateral tooth, posterior margin; posterior margin with strong convexity in middle. Newly-settled crabs bearing tufts coarse setae on lateral margins of carapace. Small preorbital, postorbital tooth. Male chelipeds stout, shorter than pereopods 2, carpus with outer ridge, hand long, narrow but inflated in largest individuals; fingers slender, bent downward, curved inward; inner margins dentate, gaping in largest males; female cheliped more slender. Pereopods 2–5 decreasing in length posteriorly, dactyls slender, with spinules. Male carapace length 71 mm, width 62 mm; female 69 mm, width 59 mm.

Color in life. Camouflaged like algae; light olive-green to almost black. Ventral surface yellowish in juveniles, females; brilliant red in mature males. Color may depend on age, nearness to next molt and uptake of pigments from algal food. The color notes are from crabs from Pillar Point, San Mateo County, California.

Habitat and depth. Wharves, docks, pilings, kelp beds, tide pools, eel grass flats, and beds of brown algae (especially Egregia spp. ); intertidal zone to 74 m, but usually shallow and near shore.

Range. Prince of Wales I., Alaska to Point Asuncion, Baja California. Type locality " Upper California.”

Remarks. Pugettia producta is the largest and most easily observed of the kelp crabs. The crab may store bits of algae on the rostrum, and later remove and eat the algae ( Mastro 1981). Kelp crabs may move from place to place during the year to feed on algae or mate.