CRABS (BRACHYURA) OF THE GULF OF MEXICO

Pif/io Bell, 1835
Crabs of the Gulf of Mexico 61
Pitho aculeata (Gibbes, 1850) (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 3: 171)
Rathbun, 1925, p. 357, text-fig. 116c, pi. 127, pi. 251, fig. 1; Ratlibun, 1933, p. 23,
fig. 26.
Range: Bahamas; Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas; west coast of Florida; north
coast of Cuba; Jamaica; Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Guadeloupe;
Old Providence Island (Carib.); Netherlands Antilles.
Depth: Shallow water.
Habitat: sand, shell, coral, grass, and mud bottoms; among algae in lagoons;
on Sargassum; on banks at low tide.
Pitho anisodon (von Martens, 1872) (Arch. f. Naturg. 38: 83)
Rathbun, 1925, p. 368, text-figs. 116b, 117d, 118, pi. 131, pi. 251, fig. 2; Rathbun,
1933, p. 24.
Range: Bahamas; south, west, and northwest coasts of Florida; Florida Keys;
north coast of Cuba; Jamaica; Puerto Rico; Guadeloupe; Curagao, Netherlands
Antilles.
Depth: shallow water to 22 m (to 12 fm).
Habitat: rock, sand, mud, coral, and grass bottoms.
Remarks: Reported from Florida by Wass (1955), Tabb and Manning (1961),
Dragovich and Kelly (1964), Abele (1970), and Menzel (1971). Tabb and
Manning (1961) noted the presence of ovigerous females in Florida Bay when
salinities were fully marine and in Tampa Bay in March. Abele (1970) remarked
on the variability of lateral and orbital spines with size of crab.
Pitho laevigata (A. Milne Edwards, 1875) (Crust. Reg. Mex., p. 116)
Rathbun, 1925, p. 372, pi. 132, figs. 3-4, pi. 133, fig. 3, pi. 250, figs. 11-13.
Range: west and northwest coasts of Florida; Antilles, loc. unspec; Colombia;
Trinidad.
Depth: shallow water, hsted from 10.5 m (about 6 fm).
Habitat: coral, rock, and grass bottoms.
Remarks: Listed from northwest Florida by Wass (1955). Rathbun (1925)
described a variety of this crab based on a female collected from the west coast
of Florida.
Pitho Iherininieri (Schramm, 1867) (Crust. Guadeloupe, Desbonne & Schramm,
p. 20)
Hay & Shore, 1918, p. 459, pi. 38, fig. 8; Rathbun, 1925, p. 362, text-fig. 116a, 117b,
pi. 128, figs. 1-2, pi. 129, figs. 1-2, pi. 252, fig. 2; Rathbun, 1933, p. 24; Williams,
1965, p. 246, figs. 224,233A.
Range: North and South Carolina; Bahamas; Florida Keys; west and northwest
coasts of Florida; Vera Cruz, Mexico; north coast of Cuba; Jamaica; Puerto
Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands to Martinique; Old Providence Island (Carib.);
Curagao; Cape St. Roque to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Depth: shallow water to 51 m (to 28 fm), rarely to 220 m (120 fm).
Habitat: coral, sand, shell, rock, and grass bottoms; rarety on mud.