(de Haan, 1833)

Carapace broad (CB/CL about 1.33), surface granulation fairly coarse anteriorly and fine posteriorly; cuticle of same thickness throughout, no translucent areas on posterior half of carapace; antero-lateral teeth large and robust, broad based and narrowly separated; pterygostomial region diffusely granular, no stridulating ridge. Chelipeds subequal, relatively short and robust; anterior border of merus without spines or tubercles; inner spine of carpus long and robust; palm not swollen, lower border with 13-20 coarse, deep striae. Anterior border of carpus of swimming leg sharp and hirsute. (Türkay 1995)

Anterior of carapace finely granular; posterior of carapace without conspicuously thin areas; mesobranchial area of carapace without strongly granular oblique ridge; no conspicuous elevations in mesogastric regions; coarse granules on carinae on upper surface of hands. (Davie 1999)

Type locality: Japan.
Range: Japan - (de Haan, 1833), Tokyo Bay (Ortmann, 1893), Hakodate Bay (Stimpson, 1907), Inubo-zaki (Yokoya, 1933), Shimoda (Sakai, 1935), coast of Iwate Prefecture, Tokyo Bay, Sagami Bay, Shimoda, Ise Bay, Kii Peninsula, Tosa Bay and Nagasaki (Sakai, 1939), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), east coast of Japan, Osumi, Toyama Bay, Oshoro, and Sagami Bay (Stephenson & Rees, 1968), Nagasaki (Stephenson, 1972a), Oga Peninsula, Inubo-zaki, Tokyo Bay, Sagami Bay, Mikawa Bay, Kii Peninsula, Tosa Bay, Seto-naikai, and Nagasaki (Sakai, 1976a), Yamagata Prefecture (Suzuki S., 1979), Koshiki-jima (Miyake, 1983), Oshoro and Usu, Hokkaido (Komai et al., 1992), Soya Strait (Takeda & Miyauchi, 1992); Korea - Aninjin, off Namcheon Dong, Hae-undae, Yeong-il Bay, and Cheju-do (Kim, 1973); East China Sea (Takeda, 1975a, Baba, 1986); Taiwan - Chi-lung, I-lan Province, and Nanfangao (Huang & Yu, 1997); China - Fuzhou (Shen, 1940b, Stephenson & Rees, 1968); 15-115 m.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocyemata
Infraorder Heterotremata
Superfamily Portunoidea
Family Portunidae
Subfamily Macropipinae
Genus Ovalipes
Species Ovalipes punctatus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Ovalipes punctatus (de Haan, 1833)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Corystes (Anisopus) punctata de Haan, 1833-1849 (1833): pl. 2, figs 1, 1a-d, pl. A. -- de Haan, 1833-1849 (1835): 44. -- Yamaguchi, 1993: 578.
Anisopus punctatus Stimpson, 1858a: 39. -- Stimpson, 1907: 86.
Platyonychus bipustulatus (not A. Milne Edwards, 1834) Ortmann, 1893a: 65 (specimens from Tokyo Bay). -- Shen, 1940b: 71, 80.
Ovalipes trimaculatus (not de Haan, 1833) Yokoya, 1933: 174.
Ovalipes punctatus Sakai, 1935a: 68. -- Sakai, 1936b: 119, pl. 31, fig. 2. -- Sakai, 1939: 374, pl. 42, fig. 3. -- Kamita, 1941b: 83, fig. 39. -- Shen & Dai, 1964: 45, fig. -- Sakai, 1965b: 112, pl. 50, fig. 3. -- Stephenson & Rees, 1968a: 217, figs 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, pls 35A, 38A, 38B, 42A. -- Utinomi, 1969: 85, pl. 43. -- Holthuis & Sakai, 1970: 123, pl. 17, fig. 1. -- Kim, 1970: 12. -- Stephenson, 1972a: 130. -- Stephenson, 1972b: 6(key), 24. -- Kim, 1973: 346, 621, fig. 122, pl. 19, fig. 89. -- Takeda, 1975a: 146. -- Sakai, 1976a: 330, pl. 112, fig. 2, pl. 113, fig. 1. -- Suzuki S., 1979: 314. -- Yu, 1979. -- Wang & Chen, 1981. -- Miyake, 1983: 79, pl. 27, fig. 1. -- Kim & Chang, 1985: 52. -- Baba, 1986: 229, pl. 173. -- Dai & Yang, 1991: 205, fig. 109(3), pl. 25(1). -- Komai et al., 1992: 201(list). -- Takeda & Miyauchi, 1992: 148. -- Yamaguchi & Baba, 1993: 377, fig. 131A-B, pl. 10d. -- Wada, 1995: 393, pl. 106, fig. 3. -- Ho, 1996. -- Huang & Yu, 1997: 54, fig. -- Jeng et al., 1997. -- Muraoka, 1998: 33. -- Ng, 1998c: 1116(key), 1122, fig.

Non Ovalipes punctatus -- Rathbun, 1930: 24, pls 5-8. -- Porter, 1936a: 152. -- Porter, 1936b: 337. -- Crane, 1937: 66. -- Barnard, 1950: 150, figs 27a, 29a-d. -- Garth, 1957b: 35. -- Fagetti, 1960: 148, pl. 3, figs 1-9. -- Crosnier, 1962: 21, fig. 25. -- Garth & Stephenson, 1966: 12, pl. 1, figs A-D, pl. 12, fig. A.
= Ovalipes trimaculatus (de Haan, 1833).

Non Ovalipes punctatus -- Stephenson & Campbell, 1960: 89, figs 1C, 2E, pl. 2, fig. 2, pl. 5E.
= mostly Ovalipes australiensis Stephenson & Rees, 1968;
Lord Howe I. specimens = Ovalipes elongatus Stephenson & Rees, 1968.

Three-spot swimming crab [English]
Swimming crab, three-spot [English]
Hira-tsumegani [Japanese]
tsumegani, Hira- [Japanese]

Baba, K., 1986. Anomura and Brachyura. In: Baba, K., K. Hayashi & M. Toriyama, Decapod Crustaceans from Continental Shelf and Slope around Japan. The Intensive Research of Unexploited Fishery Resources on Continental Slopes. Japan Fish. Res. Conserv. Ass., Tokyo: 1-336, figs 1-22, pls 1-176. (Japanese and English text)

Barnard, K.H., 1950. Descriptive catalogue of South African Decapod Crustacea (Crabs and Shrimps). Annals of the South African Museum, 38: 1-837, figs 1-154.

Crane, J., 1937. The Templeton Crocker Expedition. 3. Brachygnathous Crabs from the Gulf of California and the West Coast of Lower California. Zoologica, New York, 22(3): 47-78, pls 1-8.

Crosnier, A., 1962. Crustacés Décapodes Portunidae. Faune de Madagascar, 16: 1-154, figs 1-256, pls 1-13.

Dai, A. & S. Yang, 1991. Crabs of the China Seas, i-iv, 1-608, figs 1-295, pls 1-74. China Ocean Press, Beijing and Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo, English edition. (Translation from Chinese original 1986.)

de Haan, W., 1833-1849. Crustacea. In: Ph.F. von Siebold, Fauna Japonica sive Descriptio Animalium, quae in Itinere per Japoniam, Jussu et Auspiciis Superiorum, qui Summum in India Batava Imperium Tenent, Suscepto, Annis 1823-1830 Collegit, Notis, Observationibus et Adumbrationibus Illustravit: ix-xvi, i-xxi, vii-xvii, 1-243, pls A-J, L-Q, 1-55, circ. tab. 2. (For dates see Sherborn & Jentink, 1895 and Holthuis, 1953.)

Fagetti, E., 1960. Primer estudio larval de cuatro crustaceos braquiuros de la Bahia de Valparaiso. Rev. Biol. mar. Valparaiso, 10: 143-154, pls 1-4.

Garth, J.S. & W. Stephenson, 1966. Brachyura of the Pacific coast of America. Brachyrhyncha: Portunidae. Allan Hancock Monographs in Marine Biology, 1: 1-154, 3 figs, 12 pls.

Garth, J.S., 1957b. The Crustacea Decapoda Brachyura of Chile. In: Reports of the Lund University Chile Expedition 1948-49. No. 29. Lunds Univ. Arssk., (2) 53(7): 1-130, pls 1-4.

Ho, P.-H., 1996. Crabs. pp. 71-90. In: K.C. Shao (ed.), Common Seafood of Taiwan. Part 1. Taiwan Fisheries Department, Taipei. (in Chinese)

Holthuis, L.B. & T. Sakai, 1970. Ph. F. von Siebold and Fauna Japonica. A History of early Japanese Zoology. Academic Press of Japan, Tokyo, i-xviii, 1-323, pls 1-32, 7 unnumbered pls, 1 map, frontispiece. (In English and Japanese)

Huang, J.-F. & H.-P. Yu, 1997. Illustrations of swimming crabs from Taiwan. National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium, pp. 1-181, figs (In Chinese)

Jeng, M.-S., R.-G. Chan, H.-R. Fung, & Q.-S. Chen, 1997. Northeast Coast Scenic Area. Investigations into ecological resources and monitering. 194 pp. Ministry of Transport and Tourism. Taipei. (in Chinese)

Kamita, T., 1941b. Studies of the Decapod Crustaceans of Chosen. Pt. I. Crabs. The Fisheries Society of Chosen, Keijo, 1-289, figs 1-147, 2 pls, 1 map.

Kim, H.S. & C.Y. Chang, 1985. The brachyuran crabs of Cheju Island, Korea (Crustacea: Decapoda). The Korean Journal of Systematic Zoology, 1(1-2): 41-60, figs 1-4.

Kim, H.S., 1970. A checklist of the Anomura and Brachyura (Crustacea, Decapoda) of Korea. Seoul University Journal, Biology and Agriculture (Series B), 21: 1-34, fig. 1, pls 1-5.

Kim, H.S., 1973. A Catalogue of Anomura and Brachyura from Korea. In: Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fauna and Flora of Korea, Samhwa Publishing Company, 14: 1-694, figs 1-265, pls 1-112, tabls 1-2, 1 map. Seoul. (In Korean with English summary)

Komai, T., S. Maruyama & K. Konishi, 1992. A list of Decapod Crustaceans from Hokkaido, Northern Japan. Researches on Crustacea, 21: 189-205. (In Japanese)

Miyake, S., 1983. Japanese Crustacean Decapods and Stomatopods in color. Vol. II. Brachyura (Crabs), i-viii, 1-277, pls 1-64. Hoikusha, Osaka. (In Japanese; second edition in 1992)

Muraoka, K., 1998. Catalogue of the Brachyuran and Anomuran Crabs donated by Prof. Dr. Tune Sakai to the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum. Catalogue of the Collection in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History, 11: 5-67, pls 1-16.

Ng, P.K.L., 1998c. Crabs. In: K.E. Carpenter & N. Volker (eds.), FAO Species Identification Guide for fishery purposes. the living marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 1. Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome: 1046-1155.

Ortmann, A.E., 1893a. Die Decapoden-Krebse des Strassburger Museums, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der von Herrn Dr. Döderlein bei Japan und bei den Liu-Kiu-Inseln gesammelten und z.Z. im Strassburger Museum aufbewahrten Formen. Theil VI. Abtheilung: Brachyura (Brachyura genuina Boas), 1. Unterabtheilung: Majoidea und Cancroidea, 1. Section Portuninea. Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abtheilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Thiere, 7(1): 23-88, pl. 3.

Porter, C.E., 1936a. Carcinologia Chilena. Enumeración metódica de los Crustáceos Podofthalmos de la Bahia de Talcahuano. Comun. Mus. Concepción, 1(9): 150-154.

Porter, C.E., 1936b. Carcinologia Chilena. XXVII. Enumeración metódica de los Crustaceos podofthalmos de la Bahia de Talcahuano. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, 40: 336-339.

Rathbun, M.J., 1930. The cancroid crabs of America of the families Euryalidae, Portunidae, Atelecyclidae, Cancridae and Xanthidae. United States national Museum Bulletin, 152: i-xvi, 1-609, figs 1-85, pls 1-230.

Sakai, T., 1935a. List of marine animals around Shimoda area. Biological report of Shimoda Marine Biological Station, Tokyo University of Literature and Science, 1: 23-85, 3 pls, 2 maps (In Japanese)

Sakai, T., 1936b. Crabs of Japan: 66 plates in life colours with descriptions. Sanseido, Tokyo (1935): 1-239, figs 1-122, 27 pages of bibliography & index, frontispiece (in colour), pls 1-66 (colour). (In Japanese)

Sakai, T., 1939. Studies on the crabs of Japan. IV. Brachygnatha, Brachyrhyncha, pp. 365-741, figs 1-129, pls 42-111, table 1. Yokendo Co., Tokyo.

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Yokoya, Y., 1933. On the Distribution of Decapod Crustaceans inhabiting the Continental Shelf around Japan, chiefly based upon the Materials collected by S.S. Sôyô-Maru, during the years 1923-1930. Journal of the College of Agriculture, Tokyo Imperial University, 12(1): 1-226, figs 1-71, tabls 1-4.

Yu, H.-P., 1979. The swimming crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) of Taiwan. Aquiculture, 2(3): 41-74, 21 figs. (in Chinese with English abstract)

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