A Comparative Analysis of the Upper Thermal Tolerance Limits of Eastern Pacific Porcelain Crabs, Genus Petrolisthes: Influences of Latitude, Vertical Zonation, Acclimation, and Phylogeny

A comparative analysis of the adaptive significance of upper thermal tolerance limits in 20 congeneric species of porcelain crabs, genus Petrolisthes, from intertidal and subtidal habitats throughout the eastern Pacific suggests that the upper thermalolerance limits of some interTidal species may be near current habitat temperature maxima, and global warming thus may affect the distribution limits of intert tidal species to a greater extent than for subtidal species.