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Diagnostic Description

provided by FAO species catalogs
Carapace smooth, with strong transversal ridges. Gastric zone on the carapace with a deep H-shaped groove. Front with 4 broad lobes, all more or less in line with each other; 9 broad teeeth on each anterolateral margin, all them with similar size and projecting obliquely outwards. Strong chelipeds with well developed spines on the outer surface of carpus and on the anterior and posterior dorsal parts of propodus. Carapace green to almost black with legs that may be marbled.

References

  • Carpenter, K.E. and V.H. Niem (eds.). 1998 F.A.O. species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. vol. 2: cephalopods, crustaceans, holothuroideans and sharks. Rome.
  • Hill, B.J. - 1976Natural food, foregut clearance-rate and activity of the crab Scylla serrata. Marine Biology. 34: 109-116.
  • Keenan, C.P., P.J.F. Davie & D.L.Mann. -1998A revision of the genus Scylla De Haan (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 46(1): 217-245.
  • Sakai, T. - 1976. Crabs of Japan and the adjacent seas. Kodansha Ltd. Tokyo. 773 p.

Distribution

provided by FAO species catalogs
Indo-West Pacific: From East and South Africa to southeast and east Asia (from SE of China and Sri Lanka), and Northeast Australia. Also eastern around the Marianas, Fidji and Samoa Islands. Introduced in the Hawaii Archipielago.

Size

provided by FAO species catalogs
Maximum carapace width: males between 25 to 28 cm (maximum weight between 2 and 3 kg).

Brief Summary

provided by FAO species catalogs
In soft muddy bottoms where it dig deep burrows. Migrations offshore (up to 50 km) to spawn. Diet based on molluscs (bivalves: Mytilidae, gastropods) and crustaceans (grapsid crabs), rarelly on plant material and fish.Adults remain buried at day, emerging at sunset and night to feed.

Benefits

provided by FAO species catalogs
Collected mainly by trawling, and using traps, baited wire mesh pots, hooking and by hand. From 1990 to 1995 yearly catches for Scylla serrata from the Western Central Pacific ranged from 5 960 to 12 882 t (FAO yearbook of fishery statistics). These catches include, however, the 4 species of Scylla recognized (see remarks). Therefore, Scylla olivacea is probably the most common species in many markets of Southeast Asia. In Australia the fishery for S. serrata and S. olivacea reached 700 t collected between 1989 to 1990. The existing catch and management practices, currently applied to a single species (S. serrata), have to be revised. The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 13 431 t. The countries with the largest catches were Indonesia (8 560 t) and Thailand (3 050 t). The species is marketed alive. Some attempts to culture this species have been made.

Scylla serrata

provided by wikipedia EN

Scylla serrata (often called mud crab or mangrove crab, although both terms are highly ambiguous, and black crab) is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia, and Asia. In their most common forms, their shell colours vary from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown.

Distribution

The natural range of S. serrata is in the Indo-Pacific. It is found from South Africa, around the coast of the Indian Ocean, where it is especially abundant in Sri Lanka, to the Southeast Asian Archipelago, as well as from southern Japan to south-eastern Australia, northern New Zealand,[1] and as far east as Fiji and Samoa.[2] The species has also been introduced to Hawaii and Florida.[2][3]

In Hawaii, mud crabs are colloquially known as Samoan crabs, as they were originally imported from American Samoa. As these crabs are known for their robust size and dense meat content, they have been greatly sought after over the years. As a result of overcrabbing, local government efforts have restricted harvesting of crabs smaller than 6 inches (width across back) and to harvest females of any size is illegal.[4]

Ecology

A study on tidal flats in Deception Bay in Queensland found juvenile crabs (20–99 mm or 0.8–3.9 in carapace width) were resident in the mangrove zone, remaining there during low tide, while subadults (100–149 mm or 3.9–5.9 in) migrated into the intertidal zone to feed at high tide and retreated to subtidal waters at low tide.[5] Adults (150 mm or 5.9 in and larger) were caught mainly below the low-tide mark, with small numbers captured in the intertidal zone at high tide.[5]

These crabs are highly cannibalistic in nature; when crabs undergo molting, other hard-shelled ones sometimes attack the molting crabs and devour them. The females can give birth to a million offspring, which can grow up to 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) in size and have a shell width up to 24 cm (9.4 in) wide.

References

  1. ^ Yaldwyn, John C.; Webber, W. Richard (2011). "Annotated checklist of New Zealand Decapoda (Arthropoda: Crustacea)" (PDF). Tuhinga. Wellington, New Zealand: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. pp. 171–272. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Species Fact Sheets: Scylla serrata". Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. ^ J. Masterson (1 December 2007). "Scylla serrata". Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory. Fort Pierce, Florida: Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Marine Invertebrates and Limu". State of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources. State of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b Hill, B. J.; Williams, M. J.; Dutton, P. (1982). "Distribution of juvenile, subadult and adult Scylla serrata (Crustacea: Portunidae) on tidal flats in Australia". Marine Biology. 69 (1): 117–120. doi:10.1007/BF00396967. S2CID 83951720.

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Scylla serrata: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Scylla serrata (often called mud crab or mangrove crab, although both terms are highly ambiguous, and black crab) is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia, and Asia. In their most common forms, their shell colours vary from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown.

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cc-by-sa-3.0
copyright
Wikipedia authors and editors
original
visit source
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wikipedia EN

Description

provided by World Register of Marine Species
Habitat: Encountered in mangrove vegetation. Fairly common in unexploited creeks. Heavily collected for food almost excusively for tourists . Distribution: extends to Tahiti, including Australia and New Zealand .

Reference

Crosnier, A. (1962). Faune de Madagascar. XVI Crustaces Decapodes: Portunidae. Faune de Madagascar. 16: 1-154, pls. 1-13.

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