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Pyromaia tuberculata is a species of crab in the family Inachoididae.

Taxonomy
Pyromaia tuberculata, also known as the Fire Crab, was first described by Lockington in 1877 off the coast of San Diego, California. The familial classification of pyromaia is currently still controversial. It was originally known as the Inachus tuberculata, and has also been referred to as Neorhynchus mexicanus. It is a member of the superfamily majoidea, also called “spider crabs”.

Description
P. tuberculata is a benthic dwelling crab species, with adults often inhabiting continental shelves. Individuals of P. tuberculata have a granulate carapace, with a short, backwards facing spine on the first abdominal segment. The species undergoes nine post-larval stages each separated by brief periods of molting. Beginning at the third crab stage, mature females can be differentiated from males by the large rounded sodomites which make up their abdominal plates. The carapace length of adult specimens in the ninth crab stage can reach up to 20 mm while carapace width can reach approximately 18 mm.

Life Cycle
The life cycle of P. tuberculata is made up of three main stages: the egg, larval, and crab. The incubation time of P. tuberculata eggs has an inverse relationship to the temperature in which the ovigerous females live, with eggs hatching after 7 days at 26℃, and 80 days at 8℃. Larvae are free floating and feed on brine shrimp and small plankton, undergoing regular intervals of molting. There are two zoeal and one megalopa stage for larval tuberculata, which can be distinguished through analysis of carapace spines and relative width. After reaching the initial crab stage, it takes approximately 3 months for P. tuberculata to reach adulthood. There is no clear difference in body size or weight between adult males and females. Males can begin to reproduce after 47-81 days, while female can reproduce after 62-79 days.

Life History
P. tuberculata is characterized by a low number of post-larval stages which results in a shorter life span than other benthic crab species. It has a short developmental stage and can reproduce year round. In combination with strategies leading to maximum offspring survival, such as larval dispersal, year round reproduction makes it so three generation cycles may take place each year.

Habitat
P. tuberculata is native to the pacific coast of North America from San Francisco Bay to Panama, but has spread to coastal waters of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Japan, and New Zealand. Adults live hidden among stones or on mud to sandy-mud bottoms up to depths of 412 meters. Adults and larvae were reported on the Atlantic Argentine continental shelf after previously only being observed in the Atlantic in the coastal waters of Brazil. P. tuberculata has now also spread to the western Pacific, as specimens of P. tuberculata have been found along the southeast coast of Australia in Port Phillip Bay and Newcastle, and along the western coast in Cockburn Sound. In the northwest pacific, populations of P. tuberculata have been established in the waters of China and Japan mostly due to naval shipping after World War II.

Invasive Species
P. tuberculata is considered an invasive species due to its spreading to the southeast Atlantic and western Pacific. After arriving in Japanese waters, P. tuberculata has thrived due to its ability to quickly recolonize waters following instances of summer hypoxia. In eutrophic waters such as Tokyo Bay, P. tuberculata is abundant from the intertidal zone up to 80 meters of depth, with inner-bay populations being replenished each fall with larvae from crabs in the outer-bay, which do not experience the hypoxic die offs.