# Neohelice

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{{Short description|Genus of crabs}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Caranguejo no Parque Nacional da Lagoa do Peixe.jpg
| image_caption =
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Neohelice
| parent_authority = K. Sakai, Türkay & Yang, 2006
| species = granulata
| authority = ([Dana](/source/James_Dwight_Dana), 1851)<ref name="WoRMS"/>
| synonyms = 
*''Chasmagnathus granulata'' <small>Dana, 1851</small>
*''Helice gaudichaudi'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1853</small>
| synonyms_ref = &nbsp;<ref name="WoRMS"/>
}}

'''''Neohelice granulata''''' is a species of [crab](/source/crab) in the family [Varunidae](/source/Varunidae), and the only species in the genus '''''Neohelice'''''.<ref name="WoRMS">{{cite WoRMS |author=Peter Davie |year=2012 |title=''Neohelice granulata'' (Dana, 1851) |id=444742 |accessdate=September 10, 2012}}</ref> In 2009, it was estimated that ''N.&nbsp;granulata'' was the sixth most studied species of crab.

==Distribution and ecology==
''Neohelice'' is found in the south-western [Atlantic Ocean](/source/Atlantic_Ocean), from the [Laguna Araruama](/source/Laguna_Araruama) in [Rio de Janeiro state](/source/Rio_de_Janeiro_(state)), [Brazil](/source/Brazil) to the [Golfo San José](/source/Golfo_San_Jos%C3%A9) (on the north side of the [Valdes Peninsula](/source/Valdes_Peninsula) in [Patagonia](/source/Patagonia), [Argentina](/source/Argentina)).<ref name="Spivak">{{cite journal |author=Eduardo D. Spivak |year=2010 |title=The crab ''Neohelice'' (=''Chasmagnathus'') ''granulata'': an emergent animal model from emergent countries |journal=[Helgoland Marine Research](/source/Helgoland_Marine_Research) |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=149–154 |doi=10.1007/s10152-010-0198-z|bibcode=2010HMR....64..149S |doi-access=free |hdl=11336/96097 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The diet of ''Neohelice'' in the wild most consists of sediment, ''[Spartina](/source/Spartina)'' and plant-derived [detritus](/source/detritus).<ref>{{cite journal |author=Roberta Araujo Barutot, Fernando D'Incao & Duane Barros Fonseca |year=2011 |title=Natural diet of ''Neohelice granulata'' (Dana, 1851) (Crustacea, Varunidae) in two salt marshes of the estuarine region of the Lagoa dos Patos lagoon |journal=[Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology](/source/Brazilian_Archives_of_Biology_and_Technology) |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=91–98 |doi=10.1590/S1516-89132011000100012|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Taxonomic history==
The first report of ''Neohelice'' was probably that made by [Alcide d'Orbigny](/source/Alcide_d'Orbigny) during an expedition to South America between 1826 and 1834. He included details of the crab's ecology, including their burrows, but did not name the species. The first person to [describe the species taxonomically](/source/species_description) was [James Dwight Dana](/source/James_Dwight_Dana), who named it ''Chasmagnathus granulatus'' in his 1851 work reporting the results of the [United States Exploring Expedition](/source/United_States_Exploring_Expedition) (also known as the "Wilkes expedition").<ref name="Spivak"/> In 1918, [Mary J. Rathbun](/source/Mary_J._Rathbun) redescribed the species under the modified name "''Chasmagnathus granulata''", which remained in occasional use along Dana's name until 2006, when Katushi Sakai, Michael Türkay and Si-Liang Yang revised the genera ''[Helice](/source/Helice_(crab))'' and ''[Chasmagnathus](/source/Chasmagnathus)''. They restricted both genera to those species occurring in [East Asia](/source/East_Asia), and erected a new genus for ''C.&nbsp;granulatus'', which thus became ''Neohelice granulata'', as well as the genera ''[Austrohelice](/source/Austrohelice)'' and ''[Pseudohelice](/source/Pseudohelice)''.<ref name="Spivak"/>

==Importance==
''Neohelice granulata'' has emerged since the 1980s as a [model species](/source/model_species) in a variety of biological fields. Much of the [scientific research](/source/scientific_research) has focused on the species' tolerance of both fresh water and brine (euryhalinity) and its semiterrestrial habit.<ref name="Spivak"/> It has also been investigated for research into [neurophysiology](/source/neurophysiology), [neurobiology of learning and memory](/source/neurobiology_of_learning_and_memory),<ref>Lessons from a crab: molecular mechanisms in different memory phases of Chasmagnathus. Romano A, Locatelli F, Freudenthal R, Merlo E, Feld M, Ariel P, Lemos D, Federman N, Fustiñana MS. Biol Bull. 2006 Jun;210(3):280-8. doi: 10.2307/4134564.</ref> [toxicology](/source/toxicology) and [ecosystem dynamics](/source/ecosystem_dynamics). Such breadth of study is unusual for a model organism.<ref name="Spivak"/> In 2009, Eduardo Spivak tallied the number of [scientific paper](/source/scientific_paper)s published about different crab species over the previous 23 years, and found that ''Neohelice granulata'' was the sixth most studied crab species, after ''[Carcinus maenas](/source/Carcinus_maenas)'', ''[Callinectes sapidus](/source/Callinectes_sapidus)'', ''[Scylla serrata](/source/Scylla_serrata)'', ''[Cancer pagurus](/source/Cancer_pagurus)'' and ''[Metacarcinus magister](/source/Metacarcinus_magister)'', but ahead of the invasive and edible [Chinese mitten crab](/source/Chinese_mitten_crab) (''Eriocheir sinensis'') and the commercially important "snow crab", ''[Chionoecetes opilio](/source/Chionoecetes_opilio)''.<ref name="Spivak"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|32em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Katsushi Sakai, Michael Türkay & Si-Liang Yang |year=2006 |title=Revision of the ''Helice''/''Chasmagnathus'' complex (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) |series=Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft |volume=565 |publisher=[Schweizerbart](/source/Schweizerbart) |isbn=978-3-510-61385-4}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q6992956|from2=Q13884551}}

Category:Grapsoidea
Category:Monotypic decapod genera
Category:Crustaceans of Brazil

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Neohelice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neohelice) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neohelice?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.