PORT PHILLIP BAY


Mottled Shore Crab 

Paragrapsus laevis (Dana, 1851)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Carapace flat (height < 0.6 length); frontal width (frontal width of carapace, excluding orbital region) more than half fronto-orbital width (frontal width of carapace, including orbital region) (orbits relatively small); with curve or weak angle between frontal border and orbits; anterolateral margin with 2 teeth behind orbital angle. Epistome not visible in dorsal view. Pterygostomial region smooth. Abdominal somite 3 of male not wider than other somites. First walking legs with extensive felting on anterior surface of carpus, propodus and dactylus. Suture between sternites 1 and 2 without ridge. Telson of mature females twice as broad as long. Yellow-brown, with dark red spots.

Source: Poore, G.C.B. (2004) Marine decapod Crustacea of southern Australia. A guide to identification (with chapter on Stomatopoda by Shane Ahyong). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 574 pp.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Subclass:
Eumalacostraca
Superorder:
Eucarida
Order:
Decapoda
Suborder:
Pleocyemata
Infraorder:
Brachyura
Family:
Grapsidae
Subfamily:
Cyclograpsinae
Genus:
Paragrapsus
Species:
laevis

General Description

Body yellow-brown with darker red patches. Carapace has two notches on the side behind the eye. Up to 4 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Mottled Shore Crabs are one of three species of similar shore crabs that differ in colouration, the arrangement of notches along the carapace margin, and the hairiness of the legs.

Habitat

Exposed shores, under rocks on sheltered coasts or in burrows on mudflats.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

South-eastern Australia, including central Victorian.

Species Group

Crabs and allies › Crabs

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)
Shallow (1-30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

4 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Harmful

Not harmful but a nip from large claws could be painful

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Conservation Status

  • DSE Advisory List : Not listed
  • EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
  • IUCN Red List : Not listed

Author

article author Taylor, J.

Dr. Jo Taylor is the Sciences Collections Online Coordinator at Museum Victoria.

Author

article author Poore, G.C.B.

Dr. Gary Poore is Principal Curator Emeritus at Museum Victoria.

citation

Cite this page as:
Taylor, J. & Poore, G.C.B., 2011, Mottled Shore Crab, Paragrapsus laevis, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 25 Feb 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/4027

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