Kingdom Animalia Class Malacostraca Family Gecarcinidae Scientific name Discoplax hirtipes Rank Species | Subphylum Crustacea Infraorder Brachyura Genus Discoplax Phylum Arthropoda Order Decapoda | |
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Similar Decapoda, Johngarthia, Gecarcinidae, Cardisoma, Gecarcinus nobilii | ||
Discoplax hirtipes is a species of terrestrial crab.
Contents
Description and behaviour
D. hirtipes can be distinguished from other members of the genus Discoplax by the smooth and distinctly inflated carapace. It is also blue or blue-brown in colour, compared to purple or purple-brown in the remaining species.
The breeding season for D. hirtipes lasts seven months, and females must migrate to the sea to release their larvae.
Distribution
D. hirtipes has a wide distribution across the western Pacific Ocean. It has been recorded from southern Japan, Taiwan, southern China, Palau, Guam, eastern Australia, Fiji, Hawaii (a single record, almost certainly erroneous), the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. Records from the Indian Ocean are now considered to belong to two related species, D. celeste (Christmas Island only) and D. magna (relatively widespread in eastern Indian Ocean).
Taxonomic history
Discoplax hirtipes was originally described by James Dwight Dana under the name Cardisoma hirtipes. His description was published in 1851 based on material collected on the United States Exploring Expedition ("Wilkes expedition") in Fiji. The type material has been lost, so a neotype from Fiji was designated in 2012.