''Cyclograpsus granulosus'', the purple mottled shore crab or smooth shore crab, is an

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

species.

Description

''Cyclograpsus granulosus'' grows to a

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

width of about , with a carapace mottled with red-brown or purple on yellow. The carapace's frontal regions are granulate, and its lateral margins are convex.

Ecology

''Cyclograpsus granulosus'' is most commonly found on stony or boulder beaches. The species occupies both the supralittoral fringe (a region above the level washed by all tides, but subject to flying spray) and the midlittoral region (above the level not uncovered by all tides). However, the species typically occupies the upper midlittoral region. ''C. granulosus'' sometimes scrapes out shallow depressions beneath stones, and is most commonly found under boulders.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5198704 Grapsoidea Crustaceans of Australia Crustaceans described in 1853 Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards