General Description
Body grey, flattened and covered with hairs. Legs held close together and claws flat and wide. Antennae blue. Up to 3 cm wide (carapace).
Biology
Hairy Stone Crabs differ from true crabs because they only have three pairs of obvious legs besides the claws. They rely on their muddy appearance as a camouflage, clinging invisibly to the undersides of rocks rather than fleeing from predators.
Distribution
Southern Australia.
Habitat
Under rocks on exposed rocky shores.
More Information
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Animal Type
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Animal SubType
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Brief Id
Flattened grey body, hairy, blue antennae.
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Colours
Grey, Blue
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Habitats
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Diet
Carnivore
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Diet Categories
Animal matter
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Endemicity
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Commercial
No
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Conservation Statuses
CITES: Not listed, FFG Threatened List: Not listed, EPBC Act 1999: Not listed, IUCN Red List: Not listed
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Depths
Shore (0-1 m), Shallow (1-30 m)
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Water Column Locations
On or near seafloor
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Taxon Name
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Scientific Author
(Lamarck, 1818)
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Common Name
Hairy Stone Crab
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Phylum
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Subphylum
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Superclass
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Class
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Subclass
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Superorder
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Order
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Suborder
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Infraorder
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Family
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Genus
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Species Name
hirta