Maiopsis

{{Short description|Genus of crabs}} {{excessive citations|date=July 2025}} {{Speciesbox | image = Plate 38 (Garth, 1958) (cropped).jpg | image_caption = ''Maiopsis panamensis'' Faxon, male.<br />1: dorsal view. 2: ventral view | genus = Maiopsis | parent_authority = Faxon, 1893<ref>{{cite journal |last=Faxon |first=Walter |title=Reports on the Dredging Operations off the West Coast of Central America to the Galapagos, &c., by the "Albatross." VI. Preliminary descriptions of new species of Crustacea |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College |year=1893 |volume=24 |issue=7 |pages=149–220 [150] |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16112316}}</ref> | species = panamensis | authority = Faxon, 1893 }}

'''''Maiopsis''''', also known as the '''Panamic spider crab''' or '''Ecuadorian king crab''', is a large deep-water spider crab genus. It contains a single species, '''''Maiopsis panamensis'''''. It is found in the Gulf of California, from Peru to Ecuador and the Galapagos.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Galapagos Species Database |url=https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=8484 |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=CDF dataZone |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Panamic Spider Crab {{!}} Mexican Crabs.org |url=https://mexican-crabs.org/panamic-spider-crab/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maiopsis panamensis, Panamic spidercrab |url=https://www.sealifebase.se/summary/Maiopsis-panamensis.html |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.sealifebase.se}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Buy & Import Ecuadorian King Crab (Maiopsis Panamensis) Wholesale - Sold by Boni Seafood Inc, Canada |url=https://globaltradeplaza.com/product/ecuadorian-king-crab-maiopsis-panamensis |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=globaltradeplaza.com}}</ref>

== Description == thumb|Illustration of ''M. panamensis''. It has a bright red colour and an oval-shaped carapace with long legs, the carapace being measured as large as {{cvt|240|mm|in}} both in length and width, with legspans of up to {{cvt|300|mm|in}} and weighing up to {{cvt|3.9|kg|lb}}; this makes it the largest brachyuran crab known in the Gulf of California and the world's second largest spider crab species.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maiopsis panamensis - ABBM|date=15 April 2024 |url=https://abbm.atauni.edu.tr/en/maiopsis-panamensis/|language=en-US}}</ref> The studies of this species are not well known and rare; the first sighting was from the coast of Panama in 1893. There were no reports of this species in the Mexican waters until 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Panamic Spider Crab {{!}} Mexican Crabs.org |url=https://mexican-crabs.org/panamic-spider-crab/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Majoidea Category:Monotypic decapod genera Category:Taxa described in 1893