User:Pachygrapsus

= THE FAMILY GRAPSIDAE = ''Grapsidae is a large family of crabs that have eyes near the corners of the carapace. Their back legs are nearly flattened, and their pincers are spoon-shaped to help them scoop algae. There are 5 main species of crabs we are going to inspect. First is the Sally Lightfoot crab (Grapsus grapsus). It dwells near or on rocks and is normally found in islands along the Pacific coast. The diameter of the near circular carapace is 4 inches, and the carapace is pale orange, pinchers and legs are red. Two mouthparts are blue, as well as the top of the head. The pincers in the crab are small compared to the body, and shell mottled with stripes. Predetors of the crab include gulls and eels, who are seen jumping out of the water to catch the crabs. The crabs, in response, jump from rock to rock to get away from predetors.''

''The striped shore, purple shore and yellow shore crabs are also parts of the family Grapsidae (yellows and purples are Varnuid crabs, formerly classified as Grapsids.)  The crabs are found on land, Oregon to California. Their legs are flat so they could fit inside cracks, or climb under rocks. True Grapsid crabs have  hairs on the legsThey are much smaller, big striped males being 1.78 inches wide. Small juveniles would be less than 0.02 inches wide. The striped shore crab (pachygrapsus crassipes) eats algae found on rocks and primaraly is out of water. It comes back in to feed. It is black with mottled purple, yellow, green or red stripes. The stripes also will put their "hands up" when they are threatened, like when humans are acccused of something they didn't do. Yellow and purples forage for algae during the day and scuttle sideways in an attempt to run from birds. Yellow shore crab (hemigrapsus oregeonisis) juveniles could be white in the carapace, but adult's color could vary from brown with mottled tan spots, to tan with mottled purple-ish spots. Purple shore crabs (hemigrapsus nudus) are simular to yellows, but the carapace is deep purple, and pinchers are a lighter magenta with red or deep purple spots. Big males also grow bigger than big females in the wild. The purple shore crab could secrete a brown liquid simular to soy sauce out of it's mouth when disturbed or threatened. All these  crabs are  found well above the low tide line.''