Romaleon antennarium (Stimpson), Schweitzer and Feldmann, 2000 Common name(s): Pacific rock crab, Common rock crab, Spot-bellied rock crab, Rock crab, Red rock crab
Synonyms:  Cancer antennarius
Phylum Arthropoda   Subphylum Crustacea    Class Malacostraca     Subclass Eumalacostraca      Superorder Eucarida       Order Decapoda        Suborder Pleocyemata         Infraorder Brachyura         Superfamily Cancroidea           Family Cancridae
	Romaleon antennarius, preserved specimen collected in California.
	(Photo by: Dave Cowles May 2007)

How to Distinguish from Similar Species:  This is one of the two large local Cancer crabs with black tips on their chelae.  The other, Cancer productus, has a rough dorsal surface on its carapace and a few tubercles and has no ventral red spots.  Its carapace is also produced forward between the eyes.  Other Cancer crabs with black chelae, such as Glebocarcinus oregonensis, have a tuberculate carapace which is usually less than 6 cm wide and is not 1.5x or more as wide as long.

Note:  Species formerly in genus Cancer have been recently subdivided into several genera (Ng et al., 2008; Schweitzer and Feldmann, 2010).  Of our local genera, Cancer, Romaleon, and Metacarcinus have a carapace wider than long plus only scattered setae on the carapace margins and legs while Glebocarcinus has a carapace of approximately equal length and width, often with granular regions and with setae along the edges; and setae on the outer surface of the chela as well as on the legs.  Metacarcinus can be distinguished from Cancer because Metacarcinus has anterolateral carapace teeth which are distinct and sharp plus the male has a rounded tip to the telson, while Cancer has anterolateral carapace teeth which are low and lobed, separated by deep fissures plus the male has a sharply pointed telson (Schram and Ng, 2012).  Romaleon can be distinguished from Cancer and Metacarcinus because it has a distinct tooth on the anterior third of the posterolateral margin of the carapace while the other two genera do not.

Geographical Range:  British Columbia to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California but rarely seen north of Coos Bay, Oregon. (But common in Barkley Sound on Vancouver Island)

Depth Range:  Intertidal to 91 m, usually less than 45 m.

Habitat:  Common in the low rocky intertidal.  Often found under rocks, sometimes partly buried in sand under the rocks.  Subtidally may be on gravel bottoms or in kelp beds.  Especially common on the exposed coast.

Biology/Natural History:  Food irncludes scavenged bits and animals such as Tegula funebralis and hermit crabs.  It captures the hermit crabs by gradually chipping away the edges of the hermit's shell until the hermit crab has nowhere else to hide.  Sometimes harvested by humans for crab legs.  In California, become mature in about 2 years.  Berried (egg-carrying) females are most often seen November to January.  The young have vivid color patterns on the carapace similar to those of C. productus young.  Most active at night.

References:

General References:
  Brandon and Rokop, 1985
  Hinton, 1987
  Jensen, 1995
  Johnson and Snook, 1955
  Kozloff, 1993
  McConnaughey and McConnaughey, 1985
  Morris et al., 1980
  Niesen, 1994
  Niesen, 1997
  Ricketts et al., 1985
 

Scientific Articles:
 

Web sites:
 

The claws of Romaleon antennarius are tipped in black.  Photo of a preserved specimen by Dave Cowles