Davusia

Shiny bait crab
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Plagusiidae
Genus:	Davusia
Species:	D. glabra
Binomial name
Davusia glabra (Dana, 1852)

Davusia glabra

Davusia glabra, commonly called the shiny bait crab,[1] Sowrie crab[2] or Sourie crab is the sole species of crab in the genus Davusia.[3] It lives around the low tide area on rocky ocean shores on the eastern coast of Australia (southern Queensland to Victoria), in crevices and rock pools and on rock platforms.[1] Its distribution is stated differently in different sources; some have described the crab's habitat as from Queensland to as far south as the NSW-Victorian border,[2] while others have stated it can be found as far south as Wilson's Promontory (Southern Victoria).[4] Its carapace is grey to fawn-colored with very small green spots, resulting in Davusia glabra having a greenish appearance.[2] The width of the carapace is around 30-40 mm across[1] and is smooth without hair, slightly wider than long, with 3 distinct spines at each edge.[2]

Plagusia glabra is a synonym of Davusia glabra,.[3] The species was placed in the new Davusia genus in 2007[5] due to differences in morphology from other species in Plagusia.

References

1. "Davusia glabra". Queensland Museum. 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
2. "Ocean Shore Crabs of New South Wales," (PDF). Retrieved 2022-09-22.
3. "Australian Faunal Directory". Australian Biological Resources Study. 2018. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
4. Gary C. B. Poore & Shane T. Ahyong (2004). "Mictyridae Dana, 1851". Marine decapod Crustacea of southern Australia: a guide to identification. CSIRO Publishing. pp. 487–489. ISBN 0-643-06906-2.
5. Guinot, D. (2007-06-04). "A new genus of the family Plagusiidae Dana, 1851 close to Plagusia Latreille, 1804 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura)". Zootaxa. 1498.