PORT PHILLIP BAY


Clarrie's Hermit Crab 

Pagurixus handrecki Gunn & Morgan, 1992

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Ocular scale triangular with small submarginal spine. Maxilliped 3 ischium with accessory tooth. Chelipeds unequal, right larger. Right cheliped sexually dimorphic, dorsal surface of chela smooth and palm often swollen or elongate in adult male, smaller in female. Right male cheliped palm with mesial ridge running between articulation with carpus and base of dactylus for about two-thirds of length. Left cheliped subtriangular in cross-section, armed. Pereopod 4 propodus with rasp of 1 row of spines; dactylus without preungual process. Male with right gonopore obscured by tuft of long mesially-directed setae. Male with 3 unpaired biramous pleopods, female with 4 unpaired biramous pleopods. Uropods asymmetrical. Telson with transverse suture, margin with 2 symmetrical lobes. 11 phyllobranch gills on each side.

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:
Anomura
Family:
Paguridae
Genus:
Pagurixus
Species:
handrecki

General Description

Front right leg with large claw (cheliped), especially in males where it is swollen and has a ridge along the inside. The smaller left cheliped is triangular in cross-section. White shield shape marking with two red dots on top of the body. Up to 2 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Clarrie's Hermit Crab was named after the late Clarrie Handreck, a knowledgeable amateur marine biologist from Victoria where the species is common. The females are so small that they can carry only a few eggs inside the shell.

Habitat

Intertidal and subtidal rocky reef, to depth of 45 m.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

Southern Australia.

Species Group

Hermit 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

Small claws but unlikely to nip.

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Species Code

MoV 1706

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, Clarrie's Hermit Crab, Pagurixus handrecki, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 26 Apr 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/4023

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