Plagusia chabrus
Red bait crab | Cleft-fronted Shore Crab | Sally Lightfoot
Distribution
Temperate Africa, Temperate Australasia
Description
Large square bodied with a smooth red-brown carapace, patterns of light knobs on pincers, yellowish ridges along legs, and green eyes, deeply indented front carapace teeth and a covering of felt that extends in rows down the legs. Often found hiding in crevices and under ledges in the reef. The species feeds mainly on encrusting bryozoans, sponges and hydroids. Some authors separate it from other grapsids in the family Plagusiidae.
Information
Max Size: 7 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 10.4-22.9°C
Depth: 0-8m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Common (40.7% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Few (2 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney