Draft:Leptograpsodes octodentatus

Leptograpsodes octodentatus, the burrowing shore crab, is a species of crab in the superfamily grapsoidea, found on southern Australian seashores in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia (north to the Abrolhos islands) and southern NSW. It is the only species in the genus Leptograpsodes. They are up to 60mm to 70mm across, with an oval shaped carapace. There is one notch on the side of the carapace, although the species name octodentatus meaning refers to four pairs of teeth on the carapace, although the fourth is very small. Adult males have large claws with curved fingers, with irregular teeth, whereas in females and juveniles the fingers are straight, with regular teeth. These differences caused them to originally be given multiple species names. Color varies with the carapace described as grey and yellow, mottled green and brown, purple and yellow. There is a tendency for them to live near fresh water, but never far from the seashore. They live in shallow burrows, above the high tide line, and come out to feed at night, on rotting vegetation and animal debris. Spawning is in summer from December to January.