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| Phylum Arthropoda > Subphylum Crustacea > Class Malacostraca > Order Decapoda > Brachyurans > Family Portunidae |
| Purple-legged
swimming crab Charybdis hellerii* Family Portunidae updated Oct 2016 Where seen? This swimming crab with purple legs is commonly seen on our Northern shores, rocky areas and rubble. Especially at night. Features: Body width 5-7cm. Body somewhat fan-shaped, the sides with 6 spines of equal size. The eyes are not very far apart. Last pair of legs are paddle-shaped and rotate like boat propellers, so the crab swims well in all directions. It is a fully marine crab and cannot live long out of water. Body smooth, colours various: yellowish, orange, olive with brownish patch near the eyes, often with a pair of white spots near the base. Walking legs purple. Pincers long orange with black pointed tips. |
 Pulau Sekudu, Jun 05 |
 6 spines on the side of the body. |
 Changi, Aug 05 |
| What does it eat? The crab has been seen eating other crabs and clams. |
 Eating another swimming crab. Changi, Aug 08 |
 Ate a clam? Tuas, Apr 05 |
 Mating crabs. Pulau Sekudu, May 04 |
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Purple-legged swimming crabs on Singapore shores |
On wildsingapore
flickr
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| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
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Acknowledgements Grateful thanks to Crabhunter for confirmation of ID. Links
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