Australoplax

{{Short description|Genus of crabs}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Australoplax tridentata, Furry-Clawed Crab, Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia.jpg

| image_caption =

| genus = Australoplax

| parent_authority = Barnes, 1966

| species = tridentata

| authority = Barnes, 1966

}}

Australoplax is a genus of crabs which are spread along the north-eastern coastline of Australia. The only species in this genus is Australoplax tridentata, commonly known as the furry-clawed crab{{cite web |date=2017 |title=Furry-clawed crab |url=https://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Explore/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Crustaceans/Common+marine+crustaceans/~/link.aspx?_id=17DF36468C4E444C85D7D31E3B11CC1B&_z=z |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=Queensland Museum |publisher=Government of Queensland}} or tuxedo shore crab,{{Cite web |title=Estuarine Shore Crabs of New South Wales |url=https://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/Newcastle/media/Documents/environment/Coast%20and%20River/estuarineshorecrabs.pdf |access-date=2022-06-05}} found in Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

Description

Claws are blue. Adult males have large claws, adult females small claws. Adult males have a patch of fur at the base of the fingers. The carapace breadth is up to {{Convert|15|mm|in}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Barnes |first1=R. S. K. |date=December 14, 1966 |title=The Status of the Crab Genus Euplax H. Milne Edwards, 1852; and a new genus Australoplax of the subfamily Macrophtalminae, Dana, 1851 (Brachyura, Ocypodidae) |journal=The Australian Zoologist |volume=XIII, Part 4 |citeseerx=10.1.1.650.5175}} It lives in mangroves and muddy creek banks.

References