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,[a] oscellated crab,[b] or calico crab,[5][c] is a species of crab in the family Ovalipidae.[1][7]
Description
[edit]The carapace of O. ocellatus is slightly wider than long, at 8.9 centimetres (3.5 in) wide,[5] and 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long.[8] The carapace is yellow-grey[8] or light purplish,[5] with "leopardlike clusters of purple dots".[8] It exhibits a limited iridescence as a form of signalling.
Taxonomy
[edit]Ovalipes ocellatus was first described as Cancer ocellatus by naturalist Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1799.[1] In 1898, carcinologist Mary Jane Rathbun moved the species to her new genus Ovalipes.[9] 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 the purple spots, which O. stephensoni lacks.[8] The following cladogram based on morphology shows the relationship between O. catharus and the other extant species of Ovalipes:[10][d]
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Distribution
[edit]The distribution of Ovalipes ocellatus extends along North America's Atlantic coast from Canada to Georgia.[8] O. ocellatus is "probably the only Ovalipes species common north of Virginia", being replaced by Ovalipes stephensoni to the south.[11]
Diet
[edit]The diet of Ovalipes ocellatus consists predominantly of bivalves, crustaceans including other crabs, polychaetes, cephalopods, and gastropods.[12][13] It rarely feeds on fish.[12]
Life cycle
[edit]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‰.[14]
Ecology
[edit]Ovalipes ocellatus is nocturnal and often buries itself in the sand.[5][8] It has been described as "vicious" and "the crab most likely to pinch a wader's toes".[8]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Sometimes "northern lady crab"[2][3]
- ^ Sometimes "ocellate lady crab"[4]
- ^ The nickname "calico crab" is shared with Hepatus epheliticus.[6]
- ^ Ovalipes itself sits within the monogeneric family Ovalipidae.[7]
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.
- ^ Bernier, Locke & Hanson 2009, p. 105.
- ^ Stehlik 1993, p. 723.
- ^ Ruppert & Fox 1988, pp. 257–258.
- ^ a b c d Pollock 1998, p. 264.
- ^ Voss 2002, p. 98.
- ^ a b Poore & Ahyong 2023, pp. 695–696.
- ^ a b c d e f g 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Parker, Mckenzie & Ahyong 1998, p. 866.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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
[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.
- Ropes, John W. (1989). "The Food Habits of Five Crab Species at Pettaquamscutt River, Rhode Island" (PDF). Fishery Bulletin. 87 (1): 197–204. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 May 2024. 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. JSTOR 1549103.
- 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. PMC 1689053.
- 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. LCCN 2021388782.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Ovalipes ocellatus at Wikimedia Commons- 3D model from the Smithsonian Institution
