Hemigrapsus nudus (Dana, 1851)

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 265

Hemigrapsus nudus (Dana, 1851)

( Fig. 61C, Pl. 15D)

Pseudograpsus nudus Dana, 1851: 249 ; 1852: 335; 1855: pl. 20, fig. 7.

Brachynotus nudus . — Holmes 1900: 81.

Hemigrapsus nudus . — Rathbun 1904: 189; 1917: 267, pl. 68. — Weymouth 1910: 62, pl. 14, fig. 42. — Schmitt 1921: 273, text fig. 161, pl. 47. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 395, fig. 351. — Garth & Abbott 1980: 621, fig. 25.44. — Hart 1982: 222, fig. 92. 320 A. — Jensen 1995: 17, fig. 1,

Diagnosis. Carapace more or less square, posteriorly flat, front somewhat sinuous, with two lateral spines posterior to postorbital spines. Chelipeds smooth, fingers curved, with teeth on margins, spooned; larger in male than in female; male chela with patch of pile on inner surface of propodus. Pereopods 2–5 without setae, dactyls short. Length of male carapace to 45 mm, female smaller.

Color in life. Carapace dark red to purple, upper parts of pereopods 2–5 same color as carapace, lower parts yellowish to white; chelae with conspicuous spots of red to purple ( Hart 1982).

Habitat and depth. Tide pools, boulder, cobble fields, upper to middle intertidal zone.

Range. Yakobi I., Alaska to Turtle Bay, Baja California, but uncommon south of Point Conception , California. Type locality Puget Sound. Records of this species from the Gulf of California are in error .

Remarks. This is a very common intertidal crab, usually found in areas that are less silty than where one finds H. oregonensis .