Cranch's Spider Crab

Achaeus cranchii Leach, 1817

Achaeus cranchi.—Monod, 1956:539, 632, figs. 747–766 [Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Senegal, Sierra Leone].—Longhurst, 1958:89 [Sierra Leone].—Forest and Gantès, 1960:357 [Morocco].

Achaeus cranchii.—Zariquiey Alvarez, 1968:474, fig. 160e,f [Spain; references].—Christiansen, 1969:109, fig. 45, map 38 [North Atlantic].

SYNONYM.—?Achaeus cursor A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1898.

DISTRIBUTION.—Eastern Atlantic from the British Isles southward to Sierra Leone, including the Azores and the Canary Islands; Mediterranean. Littoral to at least 68 m.

*Achaeus foresti Monod, 1956

Achaeus foresti Monod, 1956:545, figs. 771–776.—Forest, 1968:1096, figs. 1–6.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Liberia: Sta 68, 70 m, broken shell, 1 (?).

Ghana: Sta 17, 48 m, fine sand and green mud, 1 (?).

DESCRIPTION.—Forest, 1968:1096.

Male Pleopod: Forest, 1968, fig. 6 (Ghana).

MEASUREMENTS.—Carapace length of male 2.8 mm, of female 3.7 mm. The only other known specimen, the holotype, is an ovigerous female with a carapace length of 5 mm.

DISTRIBUTION.—Known from the following three localities off West Africa.

Senegal: S of Île de la Madeleine, near Dakar, 40 m (Monod, 1956).

Liberia: 04°23′N, 08°05.5′W to 04°24′N, 08°07.5′W, 70 m (Forest, 1968).

Ghana: 05°35′N, 00°10′E to 05°36′N, 00°11.5′E, 48 m (not 42 m)(Forest, 1968).