Joshua R.

Masapequena BS in Biology II

Carpilius maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: none

Common name: clown crab, spotted reef crab, seven-eleven crab

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Heterotremata
Superfamily: Xanthoidea Figure 1. Carpilius maculatus (from:
Family: Carpiliidae crabdatabase.info)
Genus: Carpilius
Species: Carpilius maculatus

Diagnostic features: Carapace ovate; dorsal surface very smooth and convex. Cream to pink ground
colour, with 9 large violet to maroon spots on dorsal surface of carapace: 3 on median region, 2 on posterior
region, 2 on anterolateral region, and 2-4 smaller spots around the orbits. [1]

Morphology: Front with a lobate process and divided into 2 lobules by a depression in the median. Orbit
small; inner superorbital teeth larger than frontal lobe and slanted antero-laterally; the distance between
inner superorbital teeth subequal to one-third of carapace breadth; outerorbital teeth obtusely round.
Antero-lateral margin arched, longer than postero-lateral margin; conjunctive site between antero-lateral
and postero-lateral margins armed each with an obtuse tooth. Chelipeds of the female asymmetrical;
surface smooth. Fingers of major chelipeds each with truncated stout tooth in proximal half of the inner
margins; fingers of minor chelipeds slender, teeth on the inner margins indistinct. Ambulatory legs with
merus subcylindrical; dactylus elongate and slender, claw-shaped at tip. Female abdomen oblong, 7-
segmented; telson acutely triangular.
Carapace length of the female 45-90
mm, breadth 62.8-122 mm. (Dai &
Yang, 1991) [2]

Habitat and Distribution: Benthic.

Reef-associated; depth range of 0-6
meters. Tropical and is distributed in
Indo-West Pacific, reaching Hawaii
and French Polynesia. [3]

Figure 2. Computer Generated Native Distribution Map for Carpilius

maculatus (from: sealifebase.ca)
Biology: A reef crab. Collected extensively for
food, although never in large quantities.
Frequently seen in markets of East Asia and parts
of Indonesia, but only in small numbers. Usually
collected by hand or with baited traps. There have
been reports that this species is poisonous, but
this could not been confirmed by biochemical
tests. It is possible that after feeding on
poisonous molluscs (e.g. marine snails), the
crabs become toxic for a short period as well. [1]
Figure 3. Carpilius maculatus (Photo: J Masapequena)

Life Cycle and Mating Behavior: Members of the order Decapoda are mostly gonochoric (unlike other
marine animals which have the ability to switch sex based on the lack of mating partners available). Mating
behavior is commonly a precopulatory courtship ritual where the male usually waits until the female molts.
[3] The male can sense through pheromones released by the female that her molt is imminent. Then, to
ensure that he will be the mating partner, he holds her in a close embrace known as amplexus until she
molts. This pre-molting embrace may last up to a week, with each crab sternum to sternum. At some point
during the later stages of the amplexus the female flips right-side-up, which is preceded by her pinching the
male’s eyestalks to make him relax his hold. Actual copulation occurs about an hour and a half after the
female molts, when the new exoskeleton has firmed somewhat, and with the mating pair back in a sternum-
to-sternum position. The female crab gets a male sperm package, which she stores in her abdominal cavity
until her eggs are ready to be released. When the eggs are released, the stored sperm flows over them
and they become fertilized. The female crab holds the fertilized eggs in a big spongy mass between its
abdominal flap and the body. The eggs are cemented to the pleopods, which are small legs, creating the
"berried" appearance. To keep the eggs healthy, the female crab continually "waves" water over the eggs
with the pleopods.

When the eggs hatch into zoea larvae, they drift away in the ocean currents as plankton. As the crab grows
in size, it goes through a series of molts and finally, a process of metamorphosis. Each larval stage, it
changes form and function. At each molt, more segments are added to the end (posterior), and the
feathered limbs are replaced by the clawed limbs. When it is a megalopa, (last stage before metamorphosis)
and before it becomes a juvenile crab, it most closely resembles the adult crab.

Remarks: In Japan, it is named as seven-eleven crab for its distinctive spots on its shell– seven spots on
the top and another four on the bottom (although it has more than that). Based on the most visible spots, it
should be called a seven-four crab, but since seven-eleven had a nicer ring to it and its characteristic spots
totaled 11, the name seven-eleven stuck. The only other species of Carpilius in the area is C. convexus,
which can easily be distinguished by its very different coloration. [1]

Hawaiian legend says that this crab has its spots because a sea god tried to capture it and eat it, but the
crab drew blood. The sea god kept on trying to catch the crab with his bloodied fingers and that is why he
has so many red-brownish spots. [4]
Figure 4. Carpilius maculatus sketch (Illustration: J Masapequena)

Bibliography

[1] Carpenter, K.E.; Niem, V.H. (eds) FAO Species Identification Guide For Fishery Purposes. The Living
Marine Resources of The Western Central Pacific. Volume 2. Cephalopods, Crustaceans,
Holothurians and Sharks. Rome, FAO. 1998.

[2] Sakai, Katsushi. “Marine Species Identification Portal”. http://species

identification.org/species.php?species_group=crabs_of_japan&menuentry=soorten. October 16,
2019

[3] Sea Life Base. “Carpilius maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758) clown crab”.
https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Carpilius-maculatus.html. October 16, 2019

[4] Project Noah. “Spotted Reef Crab aka 7-11 Crab, 'Alakuma”.
https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/325386014. October 20, 2019