Image of a Sea Anemone with permission from Petr VodickaImage of cluster of Sea Anemonies, with permission from Brocken Inglory

Classification of N. maculatus

Image of the Spotted Porcelain Crab sitting in a sea anemone, from Wikimedia Commons, with permission from Tarinth

 

Domain .......................................... Eukarya
Kingdom ....................................... Animalia
Phylum .................................... Arthropoda
Class ...................................... Malacostraca
Order ........................................... Decapoda
Family ................................... Porcellanidae
Genus ................................ Neopetrolisthes
Species ........... Neopetrolisthes maculatus



Before getting any further, it would be a good idea to establish what the name Neopetolisthes maculatus means. Maculatus comes from the Latin root macula, meaning "spot, stain" (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001).

Figure 1. Image of the animal phyla showing the major synapomorphic changes
Figure 1. The image above is showing a blown up portion of the animal phyla I studied in Organismal Biology 203. It also shows the major synapomorphic (a characteristic presented in more than one related organism) structures. The Spotted Porcelain Crab would fall under the Arthropoda category. Take a look at the next diagram to see how exactly this organism was named. This graph was generated with the help of Alyxandra Walters. To view her web page and learn about her organism, click here.

Figure 2. Phylogeny showing the classification of the Spotted Porcelain Crab

Figure 2. The image showing the careful classification layout of the Neopetrolisthes maculatus. Each and every extension in the diagram has unique qualities that further classify the organism. Read below to see what I mean by this. Figure 2 was  created by the author of this web page, Britney Kocken.





Domain - Eukarya
         An organism that is defined as being an eukaryote has a nucleus in the cells as well as other structures within the closed membranes.

Kingdom - Animalia
         Animals are multicellular. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis (a process of transformation from an immature stage to an adult stage) later on in their lives. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance. Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals are divided into sub- groups, including birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

Phylum - Arthropoda
         An arthropoda is an invertebrate (animal lacking a backbone) animal having an exoskeleton (external skeleton), a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda which includes the insects, arachnids, and crustaceans. Arthropods are characterized by their jointed limbs and cuticles (tough but flexible outer covering), which are mainly made of chitin. The cuticles of crustaceans are also bio mineralized with calcium carbonate. The rigid cuticle inhibits growth, so arthropods replace it periodically by molting (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

Class - Malacostraca
         Malacostraca is the largest of the six classes of crustaceans, containing over 25,000 extant species, divided among 16 orders. The members display a greater diversity of body forms than any other class of animals, and include crabs, lobsters, shrimp, krill, woodlice, scuds (Amphipoda), mantis shrimp and many other less familiar animals. They are abundant in all marine environments and have also colonized freshwater and terrestrial habitats. They are united by a common comparison of 20 body segments, divided into a head, thorax, and abdomen (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

Order - Decapods
         The decapods or Decapoda (literally 'ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

Family - Porcellanidae
         Porcelain crabs are decapod crustaceans in the widespread family Porcellanidae, which superficially resemble true crabs. They have flattened bodies as an adaptation for living in rock crevices. They are delicate, readily losing limbs when attacked, and use their large claws for maintaining territories (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

Genus - Neopetrolisthes
         Neopetrolisthes
is a genus of porcelain crabs that live on sea anemones, and contain the following three species: Neopetrolisthes maculatus, Neopetrolisthes Miyake, and Neopetrolisthes allocates (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

Species - Neopetrolisthes maculatus
        Neopetrolisthes maculatus
is a species of porcelain crab form the Indo-Pacific region.  It is a small, colorful crustacean with a porcelain-like shell. This porcelain crab is usually found within the stinging tentacles of a number of sea anemone species (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 2013).

 


To learn where you can find the Spotted Porcelain Crab, click here to continue to Habitat and Geography.

You can return to the home page by clicking here.