Litocheira bispinosa

two-spined slender-clawed crab
Litocheira bispinosa
Litocheira bispinosa, Hobart,TAS, Photo: Graham Edgar

Distribution

Temperate Australasia


Description

Mottled purple-brown, with the legs banded in similar colours. It superficially resembles a grapsid crab in shape, as it has a square carapace with a sharp spine towards the front of each side.


Information

Max Size: 2 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 14.9-21.4°C

Depth: 0-30m

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: Infrequent (3.3% 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: Solitary (1 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