Biology:Ovalipes ocellatus
| Ovalipes ocellatus | |
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Scientific classification 
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| 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 (Herbst, 1799) [1]
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| Synonyms [2] | |
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Ovalipes ocellatus, commonly known as the lady crab,[lower-alpha 1] oscellated crab,[lower-alpha 2] or calico crab,[6][lower-alpha 3] is a species of crab in the family Ovalipidae.[2][8]
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,[lower-alpha 1] oscellated crab,[lower-alpha 2] 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][lower-alpha 4] 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][lower-alpha 5]
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 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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sometimes "northern lady crab"[3][4]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sometimes "ocellate lady crab"[5]
- ↑ The nickname "calico crab" is shared with Hepatus epheliticus.[7]
- ↑ 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]
- ↑ Ovalipes itself sits within the monogeneric family Ovalipidae.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Herbst 1799, pp. 61–62.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ahyong, Shane T. (30 April 2022). "Ovalipes ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158434.
- ↑ Bernier, Locke & Hanson 2009, p. 105.
- ↑ Stehlik 1993, p. 723.
- ↑ Ruppert & Fox 1988, pp. 257–258.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Pollock 1998, p. 264.
- ↑ Voss 2002, p. 98.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Poore & Ahyong 2023, pp. 695–696.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Kaplan, Eugene H. (1999). "Lady crab Ovalipes ocellatus". in Roger Tory Peterson. 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. pp. 322. ISBN 978-0-395-97516-9.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Parker, Mckenzie & Ahyong 1998, p. 866.
- ↑ Rathbun 1898, p. 597.
- ↑ Stephenson & Rees 1968, pp. 214, 245.
- ↑ Stephenson & Rees 1968, pp. 213, 247–248.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Stehlik 1993, pp. 727–729.
- ↑ Ropes 1989, p. 201.
- ↑ 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
- Herbst, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm (1799). Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse &c. &c. (First ed.). Berlin and Stralsund: Gottlieb August Lange. https://archive.org/details/versucheinernatu03herb.
- 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. http://biostor.org/reference/3351.
- Voss, Gilbert L. (2002). 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.
- Ropes, John W. (1989). "The Food Habits of Five Crab Species at Pettaquamscutt River, Rhode Island". Fishery Bulletin 87 (1): 197–204. https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/1989/871/ropes.pdf. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
- Stehlik, Linda L. (October 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:10.1163/193724093X00291.
- Parker, Andrew R.; Mckenzie, David R.; Ahyong, Shane T. (22 May 1998). "A unique form of light reflector and the evolution of signalling in Ovalipes (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae)". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 265 (1399): 861–867. doi:10.1098/rspb.1998.0371.
- Pollock, Leland W. (1998). A Practical Guide to the Marine Animals of Northeastern North America. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-2399-6.
- Poore, Gary C.B.; Ahyong, Shane T. (2023). Marine Decapod Crustacea: A Guide to Families and Genera of the World. CRC Press. doi:10.1071/9781486311798. ISBN 978-1-4863-1178-1.
External links
- 3D model from the Smithsonian Institution
Wikidata ☰ Q7113228 entry
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