PORT PHILLIP BAY


Four-toothed Shore Crab 

Paragrapsus quadridentatus (Milne Edwards, 1837)

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 1 tooth behind orbital angle. Epistome not visible in dorsal view. Pterygostomial region smooth. Abdominal somite 3 of male not wider than other somites. First walking leg with sparse felting restricted to inner edge of propodus and some grooves on dactylus. Suture between sternites 1 and 2 without ridge. Telson of mature females twice as broad as long. Greenish or brownish grey.

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:
quadridentatus

General Description

Body green-grey or pale brown with black spots. Carapace has one notch on the side behind the eye. Up to 3 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Four-toothed Shore Crabs are active movers and race for shelter when disturbed. Because they can survive for several hours out of water, they are able to live above the low-tide level on rocky shores. They are scavengers, using their claws to tear apart dead fishes and rotting seaweed.

Habitat

Exposed shores, under rocks on sheltered coasts or in burrows on mudflats, to depth of 10 m.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

Tasmania, western and central Victorian coast.

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 1660

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, Four-toothed Shore Crab, Paragrapsus quadridentatus, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 05 Jan 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/4028

Text: creative commons cc by licence