Hickman's Pea Crab, Pinnotheres hickmani.

Photographer: David Staples

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Pinnotheres hickmani (Guiler, 1950), Hickman's Pea Crab

General Description

Carapace round and green-brown. Eyes small and close together. Up to 1 cm wide (carapace).

Biology

Hickman's Pea Crabs live like peas in a pod, inside the shells of bivalve molluscs, such as mussels. Males are smaller than the females.

Distribution

Southern Australia.

Habitat

Inside bivalve mollusc shells, to depth of 5 m.

More Information

Animal Type

Crustaceans
Animal SubType

Crabs
Brief Id

Round carapace, small eyes.
Colours

Green, Brown
Habitats

Reefs
Diet

Carnivore
Diet Categories

Animal matter
Endemicity

Native to Australia
Commercial

No
Conservation Statuses

CITES: Not listed, FFG Threatened List: Not listed, EPBC Act 1999: Not listed, IUCN Red List: Not listed
Depths

Shore (0-1 m), Shallow (1-30 m)
Water Column Locations

On or near seafloor
Taxon Name

Pinnotheres hickmani
Scientific Author

(Guiler, 1950)
Common Name

Hickman's Pea Crab
Other Names

Pea Crab
Phylum

Arthropoda
Subphylum

Crustacea
Superclass

Multicrustacea
Class

Malacostraca
Subclass

Eumalacostraca
Superorder

Eucarida
Order

Decapoda
Suborder

Pleocyemata
Infraorder

Brachyura
Family

Pinnotheridae
Subfamily

Pinnotherinae
Genus

Pinnotheres
Species Name

hickmani

Cite this page

Taylor, J. and Poore, G. (2010) Pinnotheres hickmani Hickman's Pea Crab in Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8676
Accessed 31 October 2025

Rights

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Text content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence

Authors

Dr Joanne Taylor Manager, Natural Sciences Collections at Museums Victoria.

Dr Gary C. Poore Principal Curator Emeritus at Museums Victoria.

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Pinnotheres hickmani (Guiler, 1950), Hickman's Pea Crab

General Description

Biology

Distribution

Habitat

More Information

Animal Type

Animal SubType

Brief Id

Colours

Habitats

Diet

Diet Categories

Endemicity

Commercial

Conservation Statuses

Depths

Water Column Locations

Taxon Name

Scientific Author

Common Name

Other Names

Phylum

Subphylum

Superclass

Class

Subclass

Superorder

Order

Suborder

Infraorder

Family

Subfamily

Genus

Species Name

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