Scylla serrata
{{Short description|Species of crab}}
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{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
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{{Speciesbox
| image = CSIRO ScienceImage 10696 Mud crabs are caught measured tagged and released as part of the research into the effectiveness of green zones in Moreton Bay.jpg
| taxon = Scylla serrata
| authority = (Forsskål, 1775)
}}
File:Indo-pacific swamp crab total production thousand tonnes 1950-2022.svg{{Cite web |title=Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}]]
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,{{cite magazine |last1= Yaldwyn|first1= John C.|last2= Webber|first2= W. Richard|year= 2011|title= Annotated checklist of New Zealand Decapoda (Arthropoda: Crustacea)|pages= 171{{ndash}}272|url= https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/tuhinga.22.2011.pt8_.p.yaldwyn.pdf|url-status= live|magazine= Tuhinga|location= Wellington, New Zealand|publisher= Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200710011817/https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/tuhinga.22.2011.pt8_.p171-272.yaldwyn.pdf|archive-date= 10 July 2020|access-date= 23 September 2019}} and as far east as Fiji and Samoa.{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2637/en |title=Species Fact Sheets: Scylla serrata |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=October 26, 2018}} The species has also been introduced to Hawaii and Florida.{{cite web |url= https://irlspecies.org/taxa/index.php?quicksearchtaxon=Scylla+serrata&taxon=&formsubmit=Search+Terms|title= Scylla serrata|work= Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory|author= J. Masterson|publisher= Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce|location= Fort Pierce, Florida|date= 1 December 2007|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210811212317/https://irlspecies.org/taxa/index.php?quicksearchtaxon=Scylla+serrata&taxon=&formsubmit=Search+Terms|archive-date= 11 August 2021|access-date= 11 September 2012}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/fishing-regulations/marine-invertebrates/ |title=Marine Invertebrates and Limu |work=State of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources |url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180324103044/https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/fishing-regulations/marine-invertebrates/|archive-date= 24 March 2018|access-date=23 March 2018}}
Ecology
A study on tidal flats in Deception Bay in Queensland found juvenile crabs ({{convert|20|-|99|mm|1|disp=or|abbr=on}} carapace width) were resident in the mangrove zone, remaining there during low tide, while subadults ({{convert|100|-|149|mm|disp=or|abbr=on}}) migrated into the intertidal zone to feed at high tide and retreated to subtidal waters at low tide.{{cite journal |last1= Hill|first1= B. J.|last2= Williams|first2= M. J.|last3= Dutton|first3= P.|year= 1982|title= Distribution of juvenile, subadult and adult Scylla serrata (Crustacea: Portunidae) on tidal flats in Australia|journal= Marine Biology|volume= 69|issue= 1|pages= 117{{ndash}}120|doi= 10.1007/BF00396967|s2cid= 83951720|url= https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00396967|url-access= subscription}} Adults ({{convert|150|mm|disp=or|abbr=on}} and larger) were caught mainly below the low-tide mark, with small numbers captured in the intertidal zone at high tide.
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 {{convert|3.5|kg|abbr=on}} in size and have a shell width up to {{convert|26|cm|abbr=on}} wide.
References
{{Reflist|32em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Scylla serrata}}
- [http://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/fisheries/aquaculture/aquaculture-species/mud-crab-aquaculture Australia: Queensland government page on mangrove crab aquaculture]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050515130847/http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/extra/pdf/fishweb/mudcrab.pdf Cycle of the mud crab]
- [http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Fishnote/FN11.pdf Life Cycle of the Mud Crab – Fishnote No.11 March 2007, Northern Territory]
{{Edible crustaceans}}
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Category:Crabs of the Indian Ocean
Category:Crabs of the Pacific Ocean
Category:Commercial crustaceans
Category:Crustaceans described in 1775