Purple shore crab

Purple shore crab

Taxobox
name = Purple shore crab


image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Hemigrapsus nudus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Crustacea
classis = Malacostraca
ordo = Decapoda
subordo = Pleocyemata
infraordo = Brachyura
familia = Varunidae
genus = "Hemigrapsus"
species = "H. nudus"
binomial = "Hemigrapsus nudus"
binomial_authority = (Dana, 1851) The purple shore crab "Hemigrapsus nudus" is a common crab of the family Varunidae. It is often called the naked shore crab and can be found sheltering under rocks in inter-tidal areas along the west coast of North and Central America, from Alaska in the U.S. to Baja California in Mexico. [cite web |url=http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/invertebratezoology/WEBPAGE/nudus/Hemigrapsusnudus.html |title=Hemigrapsus nudus |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-08-08] This crab primarily eats sea lettuce and other green algae, and occasionally scavenges dead animals. [cite web |url=http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/h_nudus.html |title=Hemigrapsus nudus The Purple Shore Crab |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-08-08]

A small crab, "H. nudus" reaches sizes of approximately 4-6 cm. Its dorsal shell (carapace) is generally a dark purple in color, although it may be olive green or red, with white or cream markings. The color of the legs matches the color of the carapace but the claws (chelipeds) are a lighter color with purple or red spots – these spots allow "H.nudus" to be distinguished from a similar looking crab, the lined shore crab, "Pachygrapsus crassipes" whose chelipids lack spots. [cite book | last = Jordan | first = David Starr
authorlink = Stanford University | title = Leland Stanford Junior University Publications | publisher = Stanford University, Calif: The University | series = University Series | year = 1908 | doi = | isbn = ]

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • purple shore crab — noun : a shore crab (Hemigrapsus nudus) of the Pacific coast with variable markings of yellowish green, reddish brown, or especially purple and red spotted chelae …   Useful english dictionary

  • purple shore crab. — See under shore crab. [1880 85, Amer.] * * * …   Universalium

  • purple shore crab. — See under shore crab. [1880 85, Amer.] …   Useful english dictionary

  • shore crab — noun : any of numerous crabs living between the tidemarks: as a. : green crab b. : a spider crab of the genus Libinia common along the eastern coast of the United States c. : any of several grapsoid crabs of the western coast of No. America… …   Useful english dictionary

  • shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab), of the Pacific coast of North America. [1840 50] * * * …   Universalium

  • Yellow shore crab — Taxobox name = Yellow shore crab image width = 240px image caption = Hemigrapsus oregonensis regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda subphylum = Crustacea classis = Malacostraca ordo = Decapoda subordo = Pleocyemata infraordo = Brachyura familia =… …   Wikipedia

  • yellow shore crab — noun : a shore crab (Hemigrapsus oregonensis) of the Pacific coast that generally resembles the purple shore crab but is yellow or gray often with purplish brown or black spots, lacks red on the chelae, and has notably hairy legs …   Useful english dictionary

  • Striped shore crab — Taxobox name = Striped shore crab image width = 240px image caption = Pachygrapsus crassipes regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda subphylum = Crustacea classis = Malacostraca ordo = Decapoda subordo = Pleocyemata infraordo = Brachyura familia =… …   Wikipedia

  • Smooth shore crab — Taxobox name = Smooth shore crab regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda subphylum = Crustacea classis = Malacostraca ordo = Decapoda subordo = Pleocyemata infraordo = Brachyura familia = Varunidae genus = Cyclograpsus species = C. lavauxi binomial …   Wikipedia

  • striped shore crab — noun : a very common Pacific shore crab (Pachygrapsus crassipes) with a squarish carapace transversely striped usually with purple and the chelae reticulated with purple …   Useful english dictionary

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