Ovalipes ocellatus
| Ovalipes ocellatus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Ovalipidae |
| Genus: | Ovalipes |
| Species: | O. ocellatus
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| Binomial name | |
| Ovalipes ocellatus | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
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Ovalipes ocellatus, commonly known as the lady crab, oscellated crab,[a] or calico crab,[3][b] is a species of crab in the family Ovalipidae.[1][5]
Taxonomy
[edit]O. ocellatus was first described by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1799, as Cancer ocellatus.[1] In 1898, Mary Jane Rathbun moved the species to her new genus Ovalipes.[6] O. ocellatus is a member of the family Portunidae.
Description
[edit]The carapace of O. ocellatus is slightly wider than long, at 8.9 centimetres (3.5 in) wide,[3] and 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long.[7] This distinguishes it from other crabs in the family Portunidae, which often have elongated lateral spines.[7] The carapace is yellow-grey[7] or light purplish,[3] with "leopardlike clusters of purple dots".[7] O. ovalipes is almost identical to O. floridanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico, but can be separated from the sympatric O. stephensoni by the purple spots, which O. stephensoni lacks.[7]
Distribution
[edit]The distribution of O. ocellatus extends from Canada to Georgia.[7] O. ocellatus is "probably the only Ovalipes species common north of Virginia", being replaced by Ovalipes stephensoni to the south.[8]
Life cycle
[edit]O. ocellatus has five 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‰.[9]
Ecology
[edit]O. ocellatus is nocturnal and often buries itself in the sand.[3][7] It has been described as "vicious" and "the crab most likely to pinch a wader's toes".[7] It feeds mostly on molluscs, particularly the Atlantic surf clam Spisula solidissima.[10]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Sometimes "ocellate lady crab"[2]
- ^ The nickname "calico crab" is shared with Hepatus epheliticus.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Ahyong, Shane T. (30 April 2022). "Ovalipes ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ Ruppert & Fox 1988, pp. 257–258.
- ^ a b c d Pollock 1998, p. 264.
- ^ Voss 2002, p. 98.
- ^ Poore, Gary C.B.; Ahyong, Shane T. (2023). Marine Decapod Crustacea: A Guide to Families and Genera of the World. CRC Press. pp. 695–696. doi:10.1071/9781486311798. ISBN 978-1-4863-1178-1. LCCN 2021388782.
- ^ Rathbun, Mary Jane (1898). "The Brachyura collected by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross on the voyage from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Francisco, California, 1887-1888". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 21 (1162): 567–616. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.21-1162.567.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Stehlik, Linda L. (1993). "Diets of the brachyuran crabs Cancer irroratus, C. borealis, and Ovalipes ocellatus in the New York Bight". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 13 (4): 723–735. doi:10.2307/1549103. JSTOR 1549103.
Bibliography
[edit]- Voss, Gilbert L. (2002) [1980]. Seashore Life of Florida and the Caribbean. Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-42068-X.
- Ruppert, Edward; Fox, Richard (1988). "Arthropoda". A Guide to Common Shallow-Water Invertebrates of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-534-5.
- Pollock, Leland W. (1998). A Practical Guide to the Marine Animals of Northeastern North America. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-2399-6.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Ovalipes ocellatus at Wikimedia Commons- 3D model from the Smithsonian Institution
