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Etisus splendidus ?ID

Tiko‘uru (MG)

Twelve-spine Red Crab

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Twelve-spine Red Crab, Shining Red Pebble-Crab

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tiko‘uru (MG), Tūtūau (MK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE w.Pacific - Cooks - Tuamotu - Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous to eat

KEY FEATURES: Carapace 90x140mm. Bright red to organe-brown carapace with dark brown chelipeds and black nippers. Carapace convex, smooth, with shallow furrows but without lobated regions. Anterolateral border has 9 to 13 unequal sharp spines. Male chelipeds unequal and very large, generally with spines and tubercles, fingers gaping with hollowed tips. The 9+ border teeth and the two spines on the inner angle of the wrist are diagnostic. [mainly after Edmondson 1962]

SIMILAR SPECIES: Etisus dentatus is similar but has less than 9 border teeth and only one spine on the wrist.

Enlarged Image of 'Etisus splendidus ?ID'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
	P		^P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Etisus splendidus ?ID Rathbun, 1906
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; CRUSTACEA; MALACOSTRACA; EUMALACOSTRACA; Eucarida; Decapoda; Reptantia; Brachyura; Brachygnatha; Brachyrhyncha; XANTHIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Poisonous to eat. Comments: Considered toxic by people on Mangaia.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mauke: field-specimen, College collection, 3/2001, ID GMcC. - preserved to re-check.

References:
Special Reference: Forest & Guinot 1961 [Fr.]; Edmondson 1962

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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