crabsandshrimps's Identifications

-Found at -6ft. MLLW in an eelgrass bed.
-15mm carapace width -with eggs
-Most closely keys out to Lophopanopeus bellus. Legs appear slimmer than I've seen in L. bellus with less lobbed/wide propodi comparatively, but I have never caught a L. bellus under 2cm.

-Distance between eyes look too far apart for Lophopanopeus spp.
-Palm and carpus appear rough as in: Gonopanope areolota and carapace lobes seem consistent with:
https://www.scamit.org/tools/toolbox-new/ARTHROPODA/Subphylum%20Crustacea/Class%20Malacostraca/Subclass%20Eumalacostraca/Superorder%20Eucarida/Order%20Decapoda/Suborder%20Pleocyemata/Infraorder%20Brachyura/Superfamily%20Xanthoidea/Family%20Xanthidae/Gonopanope%20areolata%20ID%20Sheet%2016April20203.pdf

Photo CC-BY-NC-SA license and credit, and taxonomic work, belongs to the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH).

This observation is a part of the long-term monitoring efforts of Gustav Paulay and his team at FLMNH and Friday Harbor Labs. 

Although this observation also falls within the boundaries of the MarineGEO iNaturalist umbrella project (which is an ongoing collaborative work between MarineGEO and the Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network, the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History Museum, and our network partners), this is not from a MarineGEO specific campaign.