Cardus crucifer

{{Short description|Species of crustacean}}

{{Italic title}}{{Speciesbox

| name = Cardus crucifer

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Chan, T.Y. |date=2011 |title=Cardus crucifer |volume=2011 |page=e.T185015A8348526 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T185015A8348526.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| parent_authority = Galil, 2000 {{ITIS |id=660098 |taxon=Cardus Galil, 2000 |accessdate=August 25, 2011}}

| taxon = Cardus crucifer

| authority = (Thomson, 1873) {{ITIS |id=660108 |taxon=Cardus crucifer (Thomson, 1873) |accessdate=August 25, 2011}}

| synonyms_ref =  {{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=225681 |author=T. Chan |year=2009 |title=Cardus crucifer (Thomson, 1873) |publisher=World Register of Marine Species |accessdate=January 16, 2010}}

| synonyms =

• Deidamia crucifer Thomson, 1873 (basionym)
• {{nowrap|Polycheles crucifer (Thomson, 1873)}}

}}

Cardus crucifer is a species of blind deep-water decapod crustacean from the Atlantic Ocean, the only species in the genus Cardus. It differs from other members of the family Polychelidae in having only four pairs of claws, instead of five, in both sexes.{{cite book |url=http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/16080/16080.pdf |chapter=Crustacea Decapoda: Review of the genera and species of the family Polychelidae Wood-Mason, 1874 |author=Bella S. Galil |year=2000 |editor=A. Crosnier |title=Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, Volume 21 |series=Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 184 |pages=285–387 |publisher=Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle |location=Paris |isbn=2-85653-526-7}} The name Cardus refers to the thistle Carduus, in reference to the spiny thistle-like carapace. It is found in the eastern Atlantic from Portugal to Morocco and around the Azores and Canary Islands, and in the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, at depths of {{convert|550|-|2200|m}}.