crabs

Ovalipes catharus (White, 1843)
Class Malacostraca Order Decapoda Infraorder Brachyura Family Portunidae
classification
paddle crab
morphology surface substrate habitat
6 cm
image: Shane Ahyong
Carapace slighty wider than long, oval shaped, surface slightly evenly grainy, sides with five teeth
behind eyes. Carapace margin between eyes with four teeth. Walking legs flattened and unspined.
Last pair of legs flattened into rounded paddle, fringed with setae. Very aggressive. Overall sandygray
background with orange-red highlights, especially on chelipeds. Upper rear surface of carapce
with pair of reddish-maroon eye-spots. Swimming paddles with purplish tint. Underside white.
Widespread around New Zealand including Stewart and Chatham Islands; also southern Australia.
Surf zone on sheltered and open coasts; sand or sandy-mud. Intertidal-100 m.
It could also be……….
Nectocarcinus bennetti
Charybdis japonica
Stephenson, W., & Rees, M. (1968) A revision of the genus Ovalipes Rathbun, 1898 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae). Records of the Australian Museum 27:
213–261.
McLay, C. (1988) Crabs of New Zealand. Leigh Laboratory Bulletin 22.
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