Halimede ochtodes
Carapace pentagonal, slightly broad, smooth and without setae. Front prominent, narrow and bilobed with medial cleft. Anterolateral margin with four distinct rounded lobes. Pereiopods and chela without setae. Dorsal surface of chela ornamented with prominent tubercles. Male abdominal somites 3-5 are moveable.
Vernacular name: Nodule crab.
This unusual crab lives in soft substrates and feeds on all manner of worms and soft bodied animals.
Order Decapoda Latreille, 1802
Infraorder Brachyura Latreille, 1802
Section Eubrachyura de Saint Laurent, 1980
Subsection Heterotremata Guinot, 1977
Superfamily Xanthoidea, MacLeay, 1838
Family Pilumnidae Samouelle, 1819
Subfamily Halimedinae Alcock, 1898
Halimede ochtodes (Herbst, 1783)
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Singapore, South China, Philippines, Indonesia and Australia (W, N, Qld).
Muddy bottom, subtidal down to 50m.