Maja capensis
species of Malacostraca
Maja capensis, the Agulhas spider crab, is a species of crab in the family Majidae.
Distribution
The Agulhas spider crab is known from the west coast of Africa and round the South African coast to Durban in 2–100 m of water.
Description
The Agulhas spider crab may grow to 100 millimetres (3.9 in). It has an orange to red carapace covered with short spines and protruding granules, and is often camouflaged with attached animals. It has two double-pointed projections extending between its eyes. The front margins of its carapace are serrated.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Maja capensis” is species of Malacostraca. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Maja, capensis and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “species of Malacostraca” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6737363. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
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This entry incorporates text from “Maja capensis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.