Mainland and Insular Assemblages of Benthic Decapod Crustaceans of Southern California

Abstract

Although decapod crustaceans (crabs, hermit crabs, shrimp, and related groups) are among the largest and most familiar invertebrates of southern California, little is known of their distribution according to depth and substrate except in the littoral zone. Many species are known only from isolated collections taken over a span of decades. During the extensive sampling program from 1975 through 1977 of the "Southern California Baseline Studies and Analysis: Benthic Macrofauna," 80 species of decapods were taken. Examination of the records of these species provided considerable information on their distribution. Recent cataloguing of specimens in the collections of the Allan Hancock Foundation has enabled comparison of these records with those of specimens taken since 1913 off southern California.