Plagusia squamosa

Plagusia squamosa
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Plagusiidae
Genus:	Plagusia
Species:	P. squamosa
Binomial name
	Plagusia squamosa; (Herbst, 1790)
Synonyms
	Cancer squamosus Herbst, 1790; Grapse tuberculatus Latreille, 1812; Plagusia tuberculata Latreille, 1818; Plagusia orientalis Stimpson, 1858;

Plagusia squamosa is a marine crab of the family Plagusiidae, formerly considered a subspecies of Plagusia depressa (as P. d. tuberculata).^[1] It is found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceans. P. squamosa's carapace is bumpy and quite coarse, seemingly scaly, leading to its common name: The Scaly Rock Crab.

They are also commonly referred to as "rafting crabs" due to their propensity to live on pelagic marine animals such as sea turtles-- most notably olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea).^[2] They characteristically cling and float on organisms or objects. It is still not fully understood of the relationship shared between the crabs and the sea turtles, though it can be hypothesized that the relationship is either mutualistic or commensalistic.

^ ^a ^b Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286.
^ 1 2 3 Frick, Michael G.; Kopitsky, Kerry; Bolten, Alan B.; Bjorndal, Karen A.; Martins, Helen R. (2011-04-09). "Sympatry in grapsoid crabs (genera Planes and Plagusia) from olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), with descriptions of crab diets and masticatory structures". Marine Biology. 158 (8): 1699–1708. doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1684-9. ISSN 0025-3162.

[Ng-1] Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 Frick, Michael G.; Kopitsky, Kerry; Bolten, Alan B.; Bjorndal, Karen A.; Martins, Helen R. (2011-04-09). "Sympatry in grapsoid crabs (genera Planes and Plagusia) from olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), with descriptions of crab diets and masticatory structures". Marine Biology. 158 (8): 1699–1708. doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1684-9. ISSN 0025-3162.

[1]

[2]