The crab Xenograpsus testudinatus lives at enormously high densities around the sulphur-rich hydrothermal vents found in shallow waters off Taiwan, even though this acidic environment is low in nutrients. Here we show that these crabs swarm out of their crevices at slack water and feed on the vast numbers of zooplankton that are killed by the vents' sulphurous plumes, and that rain down like marine 'snow'. This opportunistic feeding behaviour explains how the crabs are able to survive in the adverse toxic environment of these shallow hydrothermal vents.
The identity of the mangrove sesarmid crab Clistocoeloma balansae A. Milne-Edwards, 1873, is clarified on the basis of the types from New Caledonia, and fresh material from Vanuatu and the Philippines. Sesarma (Sesarma) tectum Rathbun, 1914, is shown to be a junior subjective synonym of C. balansae A. Milne-Edwards, 1873. A new species, C. melanesicum, superficially similar to C. balansae, is described from Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and, Solomon Islands.
Two recent expeditions to the Philippines and the Hawaiian Islands have resulted in the collection of two new species of grapsoid crabs that are included in the rare deep-sea genus Euchirograpsus H. Milne Edwards, 1853. The two new species are different from their congeners in the structures of their carapaces, chelipeds, ambulatory legs, male abdomens, and male first gonopods. Both species are described, bringing the number of species in the genus to ten. RÉSUMÉ Deux expéditions récentes aux îles Philippines et aux îles Hawaii ont permis la récolte de deux nouvelles espèces de crabes Grapsidae qui font parties du rare genre de profondeur Euchirograpsus H. Milne Edwards, 1853. Ces deux nouvelles espèces diffèrent de leurs congénères par les structures de leurs carapaces, par les pinces, les pattes ambulatoires, les abdomens males et le premier gonopode male. Ces deux espèces sont décrites, portant le nombre d'espèces de ce genre à dix.
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