PORT PHILLIP BAY


Smooth Pebble Crab 

Bellidilia laevis (Bell, 1855)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Front of carapace quadridentate between orbits; roof of orbit with 2 sutures. Indentations between apices of all frontal teeth similar in width. Carapace dorsally smooth, with 8 or more white dots, lateral margins with 3 low angular projections, with distinct medial posterior spine or ridge, posterior margin smoothly rounded. Male with paired lateral swellings basally on each side of fused abdominal somites 3-6 and bump on somite 6 at juncture with telson. Male gonopods 1 and 2 almost equal in length. Abdomen of female with somites 2-6 fused.

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:
Leucosiidae
Subfamily:
Philyrinae
Genus:
Bellidilia
Species:
laevis

General Description

Body smooth, circular, with three slightly angular projections on each side. Mottled light and dark green-grey with four white dots on the back. Up to 3 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Smooth Pebble Crabs are most active when the tide is changing. They disappear below the sand when predators are near.

Habitat

Sand areas, near seagrass, to depth of 5 m.

Soft substrates

Seagrass meadows

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

3 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 1589

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, Smooth Pebble Crab, Bellidilia laevis, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 26 Dec 2024, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/3868

Text: creative commons cc by licence