Smooth-handed Crab, Pilumnopeus serratifrons

Form:

This is a small, globe-shaped crab with a hairy covering on its legs while the carapace has few hairs.

The male crab has very large equal-sized chelae. The carapace has three broad spikes, called teeth behind the eye. The walking legs and chelae do not have any spines. It has very short eyestalks.

Colour:

This crab is purple-brown above with a mottled pattern It has pale brown to yellow chelae. The fingers of the chelae are distinctly coloured black, tipped with pale brown..

Distribution:

The Smooth-handed Crab ranges from Queensland, around the southern shores to the Swan River in Western Australia.

Habitat:

It is common among seagrasses on tidal flats, in estuaries and among rock and wood structures.

Biology:

Camouflage, or protective behaviour

When disturbed, the Smooth-handed Crab will not attempt to try and scuttle away but instead folds its legs tightly underneath its body and pretends that it is a pebble.

Parasitism

Male Smooth-handed Crabs, Pilumnopeus serratifrons, can be parasitised by a species of shelless Barnacle Saccula sp. which lives part of its life cycle under the male's abdominal plate. The parasitic barnacle feeds on the living crab's tissue.

Click here for a detailed description of this parasitism.

References:

Barnes, R. D. (1968) Invertebrate Zoology. p. 467, W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia.

Bennett, I. (1987) W.J. Dakin's classic study: Australian Seashores. p.391, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.

Davey, K. (1998) A Photographic Guide to Seashore Life of Australia. p.52, New Holland, Sydney.

Jones, D. & Morgan, G. (1994) A Field Guide to Crustaceans of Australian Waters. p.182, Reed, Chatswood.

Crabs

Tubercled Crab
Reef Crab
Smooth-handed Crab
Variegated Shore Crab
Red Bait Crab
Sowrie Crab
Mudflat Sentinal Crab
Smooth Shore Crab
Seaweed-decorator Crab
Crab reproduction
Crab parasitism

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