swimming crab

plural swimming crabs

1. Any of many marine crabs of the family Portunidae, whose hindmost legs are flattened into paddles.

   In normal years, swimming crabs do not occur in the Humboldt Current area south of Paita (5°S) but are restricted to the extreme north of Perú, Ecuador and Colombia.

   1990, W. E. Arntz, J. Tarazona, “Effects of El Niño 1982-83 on Benthos, Fish and Fisheries off the South American Pacific Coast”, in P. W. Glynn, editor, Global Ecological Consequences of the 1982-83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation, page 342

   2 more examples

   Numerous species of crabs occur on the soft sediments between reefs, particularly swimming crabs of the genera Charybdis and Portunus. Among these is the edible blue swimming crab, Portunus armatus (previously known as P. pelagicus) (Fig. 23.4J) and mud crab, Scylla serrata (Fig. 23.4G).

   2008, S. T. Ahyong, “23: Arthropoda: Crustaceans and Pycnogonids”, in Pat Hutchings, Mike Kingsford, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, editors, The Great Barrier Reef: Biology, Environment and Management, page 274

   The majority of true crabs are aquatic, or at least virtually so. These include swimming crabs in which the last pair of walking legs end, not in claws, but in paddles.

   2010, Michael Samways, Peter Hitchins, Orty Bourquin, Jock Henwood, Tropical Island Recovery: Cousine Island, Seychelles, page 95

   Synonyms: portunid