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Ovalipes ocellatus

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Ovalipes ocellatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Ovalipidae
Genus: Ovalipes
Species:
O. ocellatus
Binomial name
Ovalipes ocellatus
(Herbst, 1799) [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • Cancer ocellatus Herbst, 1799
  • Platyonichus ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)
  • Portunus pictus Say, 1817

Ovalipes ocellatus, commonly known as the lady crab,[a] oscellated crab,[b] or calico crab,[6][c] is a species of crab in the family Ovalipidae.[2][8]

Description

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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

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Ovalipes ocellatus is commonly known as the lady crab,[a] oscellated crab,[b] 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][d] 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][e]


Ovalipes
     
     

Ovalipes georgei

     
     
     
     
     

Ovalipes australiensis

     

Ovalipes punctatus

     

Ovalipes elongatus

     

Ovalipes trimaculatus

     

Ovalipes catharus

     
     
     
     
     

Ovalipes ocellatus

     

Ovalipes stephensoni

     

Ovalipes floridanus

     
     

Ovalipes iridescens

     

Ovalipes molleri


Distribution

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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

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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

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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

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A sandy seafloor with an oval-shaped outline partially covering a lady crab, whose face can be seen poking out of the sand near the top of the frame.
Ovalipes ocellatus often buries itself in the sand.[6]

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

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  1. ^ a b Sometimes "northern lady crab"[3][4]
  2. ^ a b Sometimes "ocellate lady crab"[5]
  3. ^ The nickname "calico crab" is shared with Hepatus epheliticus.[7]
  4. ^ 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]
  5. ^ Ovalipes itself sits within the monogeneric family Ovalipidae.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Herbst 1799, pp. 61–62.
  2. ^ a b c Ahyong, Shane T. (30 April 2022). "Ovalipes ocellatus (Herbst, 1799)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  3. ^ Bernier, Locke & Hanson 2009, p. 105.
  4. ^ Stehlik 1993, p. 723.
  5. ^ Ruppert & Fox 1988, pp. 257–258.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Pollock 1998, p. 264.
  7. ^ Voss 2002, p. 98.
  8. ^ a b Poore & Ahyong 2023, pp. 695–696.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b c Parker, Mckenzie & Ahyong 1998, p. 866.
  11. ^ Rathbun 1898, p. 597.
  12. ^ Stephenson & Rees 1968, pp. 214, 245.
  13. ^ Stephenson & Rees 1968, pp. 213, 247–248.
  14. ^ 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. ^ a b Stehlik 1993, pp. 727–729.
  16. ^ Ropes 1989, p. 201.
  17. ^ 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

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