Scylla serrata is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia, and Asia. In their most common forms, their shell colours vary from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown.
Ocypode is a genus of ghost crabs found in the sandy shores of tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. They have a box-like body, thick and elongated eyestalks, and one claw is larger than the other in both males and females. They inhabit deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are primarily nocturnal, and are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The genus contains 21 species.
The Ocypodidae are a family of semiterrestrial crabs that includes the ghost crabs and fiddler crabs. They are found on tropical and temperate shorelines around the world.
Macrophthalmus is a genus of crabs which are widespread across the Indo-Pacific. It contains the following species : Species in this genus are often referred to as sentinel crabs.
The stalk-eyed mud crab, Macrophthalmus hirtipes, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Macrophthalmidae, endemic to New Zealand including Campbell Island. It grows to around 30 millimetres (1.2 in) shell width. It is either the only species in the subgenus Hemiplax and the most basal species in the genus Macrophthalmus, or the only species in the sister genus Hemiplax.
Ovalipes australiensis is a species of crab found in southern Australia. Its range extends from Western Australia to Queensland, including Tasmania. It is fished commercially and recreationally, although it is not as important as the blue swimmer or mud crab.
Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. The larvae of crustaceans often bear little resemblance to the adult, and there are still cases where it is not known what larvae will grow into what adults. This is especially true of crustaceans which live as benthic adults, more-so than where the larvae are planktonic, and thereby easily caught.
Austrothelphusa transversa(von Martens, 1868), also known as the inland crab, freshwater crab, or tropical freshwater crab is a species of freshwater crab endemic to Australia. A. transversa is the most widely-dispersed species of its genus, as it has adaptations giving it a high tolerance to drought and arid conditions.
William Stephenson MBE (1916–1996) was a British/Australian marine biologist and academic.
Paragrapsus laevis is a species of crab found in south eastern Australia, from southern Queensland to around the South Australian border, including Tasmania.
Davusia glabra, commonly called the shiny bait crab, Sowrie crab or Sourie crab is the sole species of crab in the genus Davusia. It lives around the low tide area on rocky ocean shores on the eastern coast of Australia, in crevices and rock pools and on rock platforms. Its distribution is stated differently in different sources; some have described the crab's habitat as from Queensland to as far south as the NSW-Victorian border, while others have stated it can be found as far south as Wilson's Promontory. Its carapace is grey to fawn-colored with very small green spots, resulting in Davusia glabra having a greenish appearance. The width of the carapace is around 30-40 mm across and is smooth without hair, slightly wider than long, with 3 distinct spines at each edge.
Podophthalmus vigil is a species of swimmer crab found in tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, Japan, South Africa, the Red Sea, Australia. In Australia the crab is found across the north from Exmouth to Moreton Bay. It is commonly known as the Long-eyed swimmer crab Stalk-eyed swimmer crab, Red crab, or Periscope crab. Like other swimmer crabs the last pair of legs have flattened ends to form paddles. Colors include a greenish brown carapace with possible red spots, claws and legs pale violet, rose red or dark red. The carapace is typically up to 100mm across, very broad at the front, narrow at the back with a spine on each side. There is a single tooth behind the spine. Males are larger than females and have more elongated limbs.
Macrophthalmus pacificus is a species of sentinel crab found widely across the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, including India, Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and northern Australia.
Macrophthalmus crassipes is a species of sentinel crab in the family Macrophthalmidae, found around China, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, and the Caroline Islands. In Australia it is found from north Western Australia through to New South Wales. Common names include the seagrass sentinel crab and the orange spined sentinel crab. On adult males there is a substantial tooth on the lower claw and a much smaller tooth on the upper claw, and noticeable orange spines on the “wrist” (carpus) of the clawed leg and on the palm of the clawed leg. The carapace is covered in small granules, and is up to around 37 mm (1.5 in) across. It is a burrowing crab, and lives in open tidal flats, muddy or with sandy mud, low on tidal creek banks, and adjacent mangroves.
Tubuca coarctata is a species of fiddler crab found in the western Pacific ocean, including Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. The common name of these crabs is either the compressed fiddler crab, or the orange-clawed fiddler crab,. They are found on tidal mud flats adjacent mangroves and muddy tidal creek and river banks.
Macrophthalmus japonicus, the Japanese mud crab, is a species of sentinel crab in the family Macrophthalmidae found in Asia. The taxon was described by Wilhem de Haan in 1835.
Parasesarma messa, commonly known as the maroon mangrove crab, is a species of burrowing crab found in Queensland, Australia. It lives in mangroves in estuaries and sheltered bays. It was originally described as Sesarma messa, but was placed in the genus Parasesarma in 2017. Perisesarma messa is also a synonym.
Tasmanoplax latifrons, commonly known as the southern sentinel crab, is a species of crab found on the south-east coast of Australia, from Tasmania to southern NSW, as far north as the Hunter river. It inhabits tidal mudflats with seagrass, and forms burrows. It is the only species in the genus Tasmanoplax.
Australoplax is a genus of crabs which are spread along the north-eastern coastline of Australia.
Venitus latreillei, commonly known as the giant sentinel crab, is a species of crab in the family Macrophthalmidae, sub family Macrophthalminae. It is a large sentinel crab, carapace width recorded as up to 60 mm across. It lives in the intertidal zone of the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, including South Africa, Japan, the Philippines, New Caledonia and Northern Australia, south to Moreton Bay on the east coast, to Fremantle on the west, in burrows in the intertidal zone in very soft mud. The carapace is granular, with three distinct teeth on the side, occasionally a fourth smaller one. The claws of adult males have a large serrated tooth on the upper claw. They feed on detritus, and very small worms. Their burrow entries are rectangular or oval shaped rather than circular.
