Petrolisthes Violaceus

Petrolisthes violaceus has planktonic larvae that remain as plankton for more than 25 days. The development of the larvae occurs in four stages: a prezoea, two zoeal stages, and a megalopa stage.

Petrolisthes violaceus' range is from Callao, Peru to the Taitao Peninsula in Chile.

Because of the vertical distribution and its intertidal habitat, P. violaceus is regularly exposed to different periods of air exposure, which varies by the heights of the tides. Gaitán-Espitia et al. demonstrated that P. violaceus exhibits a gradient of physiological responses in metabolic and heart rates across a latitude gradient of 3000 kilometers. P. violaceus is better able to cope with water hypoxia due to its position in the lower intertidal zone; it is proposed that in aquatic conditions, P. violaceus has an oxyconformer strategy and is able to adapt its oxygen demands in an oxygen-fluctuating environment.