Dotilla myctiroides

Dotilla myctiroides
Dotilla myctiroides from Devbagh, Karwar, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Dotillidae
Genus: Dotilla
Species: myctiroides
Binomial name
Dotilla myctiroides
(H. Milne-Edwards, 1852)[1]

Dotilla myctiroides is a species of sand bubbler crab found on sea coasts in tropical Asia and East Asia, from Karachi to Japan.[2] They breed throughout the year but activity peaks during the monsoons. This species builds a burrow, called an "igloo", in unstable sand as well as in well-drained and firm sand. In building the igloo, the crab excavates sand and forms it into spherical pellets. These pellets are used to form a circular wall and roof in the burrow. The resulting structure holds a small amount of air in addition to the crab itself.[3]

"Sun-burst" of sand beads prepared by the soldier crab

References

  1. ↑ Davie, P. (2012). "Dotilla myctiroides (H. Milne Edwards, 1852)". World Register of Marine Species op. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Alcock, Alfred (1900). "Materials for a Carcinological Fauna of India, No. 6: The Brachyura Catometopa, or Grapsoidea". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Baptist Mission Press. 69 (3): 368–369. OCLC 18349194.
  3. ↑ Takeda, Satoshi; Matsumasa, Masatoshi; Yong, Hoi-Sen; Murai, Minoru (1996). ""Igloo" construction by the ocypodid crab, Dotilla myctiroides (Milne-Edwards) (Crustacea; Brachyura): The role of an air chamber when burrowing in a saturated sandy substratum". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. ElSevier. 198 (2): 237–247. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(96)00007-X.
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