Ovalipes ocellatus

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Ovalipes ocellatus
Ovalipes ocellatus (YPM IZ 030799).jpeg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Ovalipidae
Genus: Ovalipes
Species:
O. ocellatus
Binomial name
Ovalipes ocellatus
(Herbst, 1799)  [1]
Synonyms   [2]
  • Cancer ocellatus Herbst, 1799
  • Platyonichus ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)
  • Portunus pictus Say, 1817

Ovalipes ocellatus, commonly known as the lady crab, [a] oscellated crab, [b] or calico crab, [6] [c] is a species of crab in the family Ovalipidae. [2] [8]

Contents

Description

The carapace of O. ocellatus is slightly wider than long, at 8.9 centimetres (3.5 in) wide, [6] and 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long. [9] The carapace is yellow-grey [9] or light purplish, [6] with "leopardlike clusters of purple dots". [9] It exhibits a limited iridescence as a form of signalling. [10]

Taxonomy

Ovalipes ocellatus is commonly known as the lady crab, [a] oscellated crab, [b] or calico crab. [6] It was first described in 1799 by naturalist Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst, who placed it into the genus Cancer . [1] [2] In 1898, carcinologist Mary Jane Rathbun moved the species to her new genus Ovalipes . [11] O. ocellatus is part of a distinct group of Ovalipes which also includes O. floridanus , O. iridescens , O. molleri , and O. stephensoni . [12] [10] [d] O. ocellatus is almost identical to O. floridanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico, but can be separated from the sympatric O. stephensoni by purple spots which O. stephensoni lacks. [9] The following cladogram based on morphology shows the relationship between O. catharus and the other extant species of Ovalipes: [10] [e]

Ovalipes
     
     

Ovalipes georgei

     
     
     
     
     

Ovalipes elongatus

     

Ovalipes trimaculatus Ovalipes trimaculatus frontal dorsal.jpg

     

Ovalipes catharus Ovalipes catharus dorsal plate.jpg

     
     
     
     
     

Ovalipes ocellatus Ovalipes ocellatus (YPM IZ 030799).jpeg

     

Ovalipes stephensoni Ovalipes stephensoni dorsal view.jpg

     

Ovalipes floridanus Florida Lady Crab (11354333045).jpg

     
     

Ovalipes iridescens Ovalipes iridescens dorsal CSIC.jpg

     

Ovalipes molleri Ovalipes molleri dorsal.jpg

Distribution

The distribution of Ovalipes ocellatus extends along North America's Atlantic coast from Canada to Georgia. [9] O. ocellatus is "probably the only Ovalipes species common north of Virginia", being replaced by Ovalipes stephensoni to the south. [14]

Diet

The diet of Ovalipes ocellatus consists predominantly of bivalves, crustaceans including other crabs, polychaetes, cephalopods, and gastropods. [15] [16] It rarely feeds on fish. [15]

Life cycle

Ovalipes ocellatus has five zoeal (larval) stages, lasting a total of 18 days at 25 °C (77 °F) and a salinity of 30‰, and 26 days at 20 °C (68 °F) and 30‰. [17]

Ecology

Ovalipes ocellatus often buries itself in the sand. Ovalipes ocellatus partially buried in sand dorsal.jpg
Ovalipes ocellatus often buries itself in the sand.

Ovalipes ocellatus is nocturnal and often buries itself in the sand. [6] [9] It has been described as "vicious" and "the crab most likely to pinch a wader's toes". [9]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Sometimes "northern lady crab" [3] [4]
  2. 1 2 Sometimes "ocellate lady crab" [5]
  3. ↑ The nickname "calico crab" is shared with Hepatus epheliticus . [7]
  4. ↑ This group – one of two – is distinguished from the rest of Ovalipes by features such as iridescence, lack of a tooth at the top of its orbit, and a carina ending in a spine on the outer wrist. [13]
  5. ↑ Ovalipes itself sits within the monogeneric family Ovalipidae. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Herbst 1799, pp. 61–62.
  2. 1 2 3 Ahyong, Shane T. (30 April 2022). "Ovalipes ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Bernier, Locke & Hanson 2009, p. 105.
  4. ↑ Stehlik 1993, p. 723.
  5. ↑ Ruppert & Fox 1988, pp. 257–258.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pollock 1998, p. 264.
  7. ↑ Voss 2002, p. 98.
  8. 1 2 Poore & Ahyong 2023, pp. 695–696.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kaplan, Eugene H. (1999). "Lady crab Ovalipes ocellatus". In Roger Tory Peterson (ed.). A Field Guide to Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores: Cape Hatteras to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Caribbean. Peterson Field Guides (2nd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 322. ISBN   978-0-395-97516-9.
  10. 1 2 3 Parker, Mckenzie & Ahyong 1998, p. 866.
  11. ↑ Rathbun 1898, p. 597.
  12. ↑ Stephenson & Rees 1968, pp. 214, 245.
  13. ↑ Stephenson & Rees 1968, pp. 213, 247–248.
  14. ↑ Johnson, William S.; Allen, Dennis M. (2005). "Swimming (Portunid) crabs". Zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts: a guide to their identification and ecology. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 220–222. ISBN   978-0-8018-8019-3.
  15. 1 2 Stehlik 1993, pp. 727–729.
  16. ↑ Ropes 1989, p. 201.
  17. ↑ Bullard, Stephan Gregory (2003). "Ovalipes ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)". Larvae of anomuran and brachyuran crabs of North Carolina: a guide to the described larval stages of anomuran (families Porcellanidae, Albuneidae, and Hippidae) and brachyuran crabs of North Carolina, U.S.A. Volume 1 of Crustaceana monographs. Brill. pp. 29–30. ISBN   978-90-04-12841-5.

Bibliography

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