Jacforus

Jacforus cavatus is a species of crab in the monotypic genus Jacforus in the family Xanthidae.

Jacforus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Xanthidae
Subfamily:	Euxanthinae
Genus:	Jacforus Ng & Clark, 2003
Species:	J. cavatus
Binomial name
Jacforus cavatus (Rathbun, 1907)
Synonyms
Cycloxanthops cavatus Rathbun, 1907 Euxanthus minutus Edmondson, 1925 Megametope sulcatus Edmondson, 1931 Cycloxanthops cavata (Rathbun, 1907) Neoxanthops cavata (Rathbun, 1907)

Description

Jacforus is a small crab, with a carapace around 5 millimetres (0.20 in) long and 7 mm (0.28 in) wide.^[1]

Distribution

Jacforus cavatus has a wide distribution in the tropical Indo-Pacific, ranging from Kenya to Australia, Japan and Hawaii.^[1]

Taxonomy

Jacforus cavatus was first described by Mary J. Rathbun in 1907 as Cycloxanthus cavatus.^[1] It was described again by Charles Howard Edmondson in 1925 as Euxanthus minutus, and again by Edmondson in 1931 as Megametope sulcatus, both of which are junior subjective (heterotypic) synonyms.^[1] The affinites of Rathbun's species with other genera have also been unclear;^[1] its apparent affinities with the genus Medaeus are superficial.^[1] When Danièle Guinot split the genus Cycloxanthops in 1968, creating the new genus Neoxanthops, C. cavatus was not explicitly placed in either genus.^[1] A new genus, Jacforus, was erected in 2003, commemorating Jacques Forest,^[1] and containing only J. cavatus.^[2]