Macropodia falcifera, the Cape long-legged spider crab, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

 which is found around the South African coast. It is a member of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Inachidae

Inachidae

Inachidae is a family of crabs, containing 39 genera:*Achaeopsis Stimpson, 1857*Achaeus Leach, 1815*Anisonotus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879*Anomalothir Miers, 1879*Bothromaia Williams & Moffitt, 1991...

.

Distribution

The Cape long-legged spider crab is found from 15 to at least 35m underwater, from the Cape Peninsula to East London. It is endemic to this region.

Description

The Cape long-legged spider crab has a small arrowhead-shaped body, which may be 20mm in height, and long spindly legs, which may grow to 60 millimetres (2.4 in) in length. Its pincers are considerably sturdier than its legs and are tipped with white claws. The body is pinkish or reddish and the legs and pincers are usually a darker red.

Ecology

The animals often decorates itself with hydroid

Hydroid

-Marine biology:Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish.-Botany:In mosses, hydroids form the innermost layer of the stem of long, colourless, thin walled cells of small diameter.The cells are dead and lack protoplasm.They function as water...

s or algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

. It is often found on sea fan

Sea fan

A gorgonian, also known as sea whip or sea fan, is an order of sessile colonial cnidarian found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the tropics and subtropics. Gorgonians are similar to the sea pen, another soft coral. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are normally erect,...

s.