Gabriel Paladino Ibáñez, Uruguay
Info
Neohelice granulata (Dana, 1851)
Neohelice granulata is a species of crab in the family Varunidae and the only species in the genus Neohelice. Neohelice's diet consists largely of sediments, seagrasses of the genus Spartina, and plant detritus.
The semiterrestrial crab is found in the intertidal zone of estuaries, salt marshes and mangroves in the southwest Atlantic. The burrowing crab builds burrows in the soil and has strong direct and indirect impacts on the marsh soil and, consequently, on marsh vegetation and primary consumers.
From the late 1989s onwards, a flood of publications appeared in international journals dealing with its ecology, physiology, toxicology and behavior. Neohelice granulata has now become one of the most studied crab species after Carcinus maenas, Callinectes sapidus, Scylla serrata and Cancer pagurus and Cancer magister and can be considered a new animal model for biochemical, physiological and ecological research.
Host/prey of parasite:
Maritrema bonaerense
Maritrema bonaerensis
Neocancrincola platensis
Profilicollis chasmagnathi
White spot syndrome virus
Synonymised names
Chasmagnathus granulatus Dana, 1851 · unaccepted
Helice gaudichaudi H. Milne Edwards, 1853 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Neohelice granulata is a species of crab in the family Varunidae and the only species in the genus Neohelice. Neohelice's diet consists largely of sediments, seagrasses of the genus Spartina, and plant detritus.
The semiterrestrial crab is found in the intertidal zone of estuaries, salt marshes and mangroves in the southwest Atlantic. The burrowing crab builds burrows in the soil and has strong direct and indirect impacts on the marsh soil and, consequently, on marsh vegetation and primary consumers.
From the late 1989s onwards, a flood of publications appeared in international journals dealing with its ecology, physiology, toxicology and behavior. Neohelice granulata has now become one of the most studied crab species after Carcinus maenas, Callinectes sapidus, Scylla serrata and Cancer pagurus and Cancer magister and can be considered a new animal model for biochemical, physiological and ecological research.
Host/prey of parasite:
Maritrema bonaerense
Maritrema bonaerensis
Neocancrincola platensis
Profilicollis chasmagnathi
White spot syndrome virus
Synonymised names
Chasmagnathus granulatus Dana, 1851 · unaccepted
Helice gaudichaudi H. Milne Edwards, 1853 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
