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Hoplophrys

Genus of crabs

Summary

Genus of crabs

Hoplophrys is a monotypic genus of crab in the family Epialtidae. It contains the single species Hoplophrys oatesii, also known as the candy crab, Oates's soft coral crab, commensal soft coral crab and Dendronephthya crab.

Description

Hoplophrys oatesii is a very colorful crab that grows from 1.5 to. It lives on various species of soft coral in the genus Dendronephthya. It camouflages itself by mimicking the colours of the polyps among which it hides. It adds further camouflage by attaching polyps to its carapace. Colours vary depending on the colour of the coral, and may be white, pink, yellow or red.

The first pair of legs of this species has small claws. The body has pointed spines with a red and white pattern, similar in appearance to the host coral.

Distribution and habitat

This crab is widespread in the Indo-Pacific in tropical climates. It is found in the benthic zone at depths of 1 -.

Diet

Hoplophrys oatesii feeds on plankton.

References

References

  1. "Candy crab ''Hoplophrys oatesii''".
  2. "The Candy Crab - Identify tropical fish". Whats That Fish!.
  3. De Grave, Sammy. (2019). "''Hoplophrys''".
  4. De Grave, Sammy. (2022). "''Hoplophrys oatesii'' Henderson, 1893".
  5. {{SeaLifeBase species. (2023)
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

majoidea monotypic-decapod-genera crustaceans-described-in-1893
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