Journal of Crustacean Biology
Info
Trypaea australiensis, despite comments to the contrary, is native only to Australian waters—that is, endemic—and reports of its occurrence in the Indo-Pacific have not yet been substantiated.
In Australia, in addition to serving as food for fish, the ghost crab plays an important biological role in estuarine sediments as a bio-irrigation and bioturbation organism through the trenches it digs.
Recreational anglers use Trypaea australiensis extensively as fishing bait, employing bait pumps for this purpose.
Scientific studies have shown that the regular use of bait pumps has a negative impact on ghost shrimp populations and the biological balance in the uppermost sediment layers of the respective mudflat zones.
See the link below to: The impact of bait-pumping on populations of the ghost shrimp Trypaea australiensis Dana (Decapoda: Callianassidae) and the sediment environment.
The rostrum of the ghost shrimp is a short, blunt, and broad triangle that is clearly overhanging by the nearly square eyes (almost across their entire length).
The third maxilliped has a strongly widened merus and ischium, which form an operculum.
The adult male has large chelae with a deep concavity on the anterior margin of the palm, directly above the base of the fixed finger.
The carpus is about as long as the palm and slightly longer than it is tall.
The merus has a large, curved, bluntly rounded lobe at the basal part of its lower margin.
The telson is quadrangular, longer than it is wide, with broadly rounded posterolateral angles and no spines.
The endopod or uropod is broadly oval and only slightly longer than the telson.
Synonyms:
Callianassa (Trypaea) australiensis (Dana, 1852) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Callianassa (Trypaea) porcellana (Kinahan, 1856) · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Callianassa australiensis (Dana, 1852) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Trypaea porcellana Kinahan, 1856 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
In Australia, in addition to serving as food for fish, the ghost crab plays an important biological role in estuarine sediments as a bio-irrigation and bioturbation organism through the trenches it digs.
Recreational anglers use Trypaea australiensis extensively as fishing bait, employing bait pumps for this purpose.
Scientific studies have shown that the regular use of bait pumps has a negative impact on ghost shrimp populations and the biological balance in the uppermost sediment layers of the respective mudflat zones.
See the link below to: The impact of bait-pumping on populations of the ghost shrimp Trypaea australiensis Dana (Decapoda: Callianassidae) and the sediment environment.
The rostrum of the ghost shrimp is a short, blunt, and broad triangle that is clearly overhanging by the nearly square eyes (almost across their entire length).
The third maxilliped has a strongly widened merus and ischium, which form an operculum.
The adult male has large chelae with a deep concavity on the anterior margin of the palm, directly above the base of the fixed finger.
The carpus is about as long as the palm and slightly longer than it is tall.
The merus has a large, curved, bluntly rounded lobe at the basal part of its lower margin.
The telson is quadrangular, longer than it is wide, with broadly rounded posterolateral angles and no spines.
The endopod or uropod is broadly oval and only slightly longer than the telson.
Synonyms:
Callianassa (Trypaea) australiensis (Dana, 1852) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Callianassa (Trypaea) porcellana (Kinahan, 1856) · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Callianassa australiensis (Dana, 1852) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Trypaea porcellana Kinahan, 1856 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
