PORT PHILLIP BAY


Hickman's Pea Crab 

Pinnotheres hickmani (Guiler, 1950)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Carapace of female wider than long. Carapace typically more or less round or transversely oval, often poorly calcified especially in commensal females; anterolateral margins smooth or minutely toothed; front narrow; orbits and eyes very small; cornea sometimes obsolescent. Antennules and antennae usually very small. Interantennular septum reduced to a thin plate, or absent. Buccal cavern broad, short, usually semicircular. Maxilliped 3 palp of 3 articles, last article styliform and attached along inner side of second last.

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:
Pinnotheridae
Subfamily:
Pinnotherinae
Genus:
Pinnotheres
Species:
hickmani

Other Names

  • Pea Crab

General Description

Carapace round and green-brown. Eyes small and close together. Up to 1 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Hickman's Pea Crabs live like peas in a pod, inside the shells of bivalve molluscs, such as mussels. Males are smaller than the females.

Habitat

Inside bivalve mollusc shells, to depth of 5 m.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

Southern Australia.

Species Group

Crabs and allies › Crabs

Depth

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

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

1 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Harmful

Not harmful but a nip from claws could be painful.

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Species Code

MoV 745

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, Hickman's Pea Crab, Pinnotheres hickmani, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 25 Feb 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/4044

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