Hillewaert, H.

Open Marine Archive

 92 
Macropodia, an underrated spider crab genus in the Belgian part of 
the North Sea 
Hillewaert Hans 
Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium 
E-mail: hans.hillewaert@ilvo.vlaanderen.be  
 
Spider crabs of the genus Macropodia Leach, 1814 comprise 20 species worldwide (Davie, 2016), of 
which nine species occur in  the  northeastern  Atlantic  and  Mediterranean waters: M. czernjawskii 
(Brandt, 1880), M. deflexa Forest, 1978, M. intermedia Bouvier, 1940, M. linaresi Forest & Zariquiey-
Álvarez, 1964, M. longipes (Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1899), M. longirostris (Fabricius, 1775), M. 
parva Noort & Adema, 1985, M. rostrata (Linnaeus, 1761), and M. tenuirostris (Leach, 1814) (Marco-
Herrero, Rodríguez, & Cuesta, 2012). 
 
Until recently the genus Macropodia has been treated rather poorly in the sampling campaigns of the 
Belgian part of the North Sea because of difficulty in identification (Van Noort & Adema, 1985) and 
due to the lack of microscope facilities on board. 
 
Recent identification of M. parva in macrobenthos samples hinted at the occurrence of more species 
than just the common M. rostrata. Amongst the 221 specimen that were collected during a routine 
beam trawl campaign in 2017, the four species mentioned by (Adema, 1991) : M. linaresi, M. parva , 
M. rostrata and M. tenuirostris, were found. 
 
References 
 
- Adema, J. (1991). Krabben van Nederland en België. Leiden: Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum. 
- Davie, P. (2016). Macropodia. Retrieved 12 20, 2017, from World Register of Marine Species: 
http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205077 
- Forest, J. (1978). Le genre Macropodia Leach dans les eaux atlantiques européennes (Crustacea 
Brachyura Majidae). Cah. Biol. Marine, XIX:323-342. 
- Marco-Herrero, E., Rodríguez, A., & Cuesta, J. A. (2012). Morphology of the larval stages of 
Macropodia czernjawskii (Brandt, 1880) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Inachidae) reared in the laboratory. 
Zootaxa, 3338:33-48. 
- Van Noort, G. J., & Adema, J. P. (1985). The genus Macropodia Leach, 1814 in the North Sea and 
adjacent waters, with the description of a new species. Zoologische Mededelingen, 59:363-379. 
 
Keywords: Macropodia parva; Macropodia rostrata; Macropodia tenuirostris; Macropodia linaresi; 
Belgian Part of the North Sea  


<i>Macropodia</i>, an underrated spider crab genus in the Belgian part of the North Sea

http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/311603.pdf

<i>Macropodia</i>, an underrated spider crab genus in the Belgian part of the North Sea

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