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Purple Rock Crab
Leptograpsus variegatus
Leptograpsus variegatus, known as the purple rock crab, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Grapsidae, found in southern subtropical Indo-Pacific Oceans. It grows to around 50 millimetres (2.0 in) shell width. It is the only species in the genus Leptograpsus.
From the article Leptograpsus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Individuals are large and may have a carapace that reaches up to 50mm in width. The crab has an overall purple colouration with a variable amount of white patterning when mature. Juveniles are a bluish grey colour with black patterning. The carapace is shaped somewhat like a square and eyes are relatively short. The body is smooth overall with no hairs. When immature, the eggs are about 0.36mm in diameter and have a very dark brown colour. When the eggs are about to hatch, they are roughly 0.44x0.42mm and the eggs are light brown. The first zoea of the crab are about 1.31mm in length.
Range & habitat
Leptograpsus variegatus is known to occur in Australia (from western Australia to southern Australia), South America (from Peru to Chile), New Zealand and numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean. The crab lives in upper intertidal rocky zones and is often spotted running along exposed rock, hiding in cracks or under boulders.
Wikipedia: “Distribution/habitat”
In human culture
Adult females are known to carry eggs only in December. The females will incubate the eggs for roughly six weeks.
Wikipedia: “Life history”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Leptograpsus variegatus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 326099.