PORT PHILLIP BAY


Smooth Nut Crab 

Ebalia intermedia Miers, 1886

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Carapace rhomboidal or nearly so, convex, regions well delineated, surface smooth; hepatic region with obtuse projection; lateral margins with 3 low projections, most-posterior projection more widely separated from middle one than anterior one; posterior margin with median and 2 posterolateral conical projections. Orbits open to antennal fossa. Exopod of maxilliped 3 distinctly shorter than endopod. Abdominal somites 3-6 fused (sometimes 3-5 in male). Male without teeth on abdominal somite 6 or telson.

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:
Ebaliinae
Genus:
Ebalia
Species:
intermedia

General Description

Carapace circular with the front extended on a short neck. Triangular spine on rear of carapace. Up to 2 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Smooth Nut Crabs mainly live on submerged mudflat areas, but they sometimes find shelter on intertidal rocky shores and in water hundreds of meters deep.

Habitat

Subtidal mudflats, intertidal rocky shore, to depths over 500 m.

Reefs

Soft substrates

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

Southern Australia.

Species Group

Crabs and allies › Crabs

Depth

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

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

2 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 711

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 Nut Crab, Ebalia intermedia, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 02 Jan 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/3918

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