Family : Grapsidae

  Subfamily : Grapsinae, Macleay, 1838

   Genus : Grapsus Lamarck, 1801

     Species : Grapsus tenuicrustatus Herbst, 1783

Scientific name :	Grapsus tenuicrustatus Herbst, 1783
English name :	Rock crab, Lightfooted crab
Creole name :	Karkasay
Family :	Grapsidae
Seychelles :	Make, Praslin, Coetivy, Aride (Anderson, 1994)
World :	Indo-Pacific area and from the Red sea to Natal on the African Coast (Vannini and Valmori, 1981a).
Ecology :
Habitat :	Exposed rocky shores near the sea, usually on cliffs
Diet :	Algae on rocks
Activity :	diurnal
Burrowing :	No
Description :
Size :	Carapace width : 65 mm, length : 61 mm. Their empty exoskelet can very often be obseved washed on the shore.
Colour :	Body and legs reddish brown marbled with green. Claws external face red, tips and internal face white (Vannini and Valmori, 1981a).
Morhological remarks :	Easily distinguished from the other Grapsus of this area by its white tips (Holthuis, 1977).
Differences in sexes :
Picture :

     Species : Grapsus fourmanoiri Crosnier, 1965

Scientific name :	Grapsus fourmanoiri Crosnier, 1965
English name :
Creole name :	Karkasay
Family :	Grapsidae
Distribution :
Seychelles :	Mahe, Praslin
World :	Yet to be defined (Hartnoll, 1975).
Ecology :
Habitat :	Rocky cliffs, platforms and tidal pools and under stones near the sea.
Diet :	Algae on rocks
Activity :	diurnal
Burrowing :	No
Description :
Size :	Carapace width : 33 mm, length : 29 mm
Colour :	The greenish yellow colour of the carapace and leg margins is very characteristic.
Differences in sexes :
Picture :

     Species : Grapsus longitarsis Dana, 1851

Scientific name :	Grapsus longitarsis Dana, 1851
English name :
Creole name :	Karkasay
Family :	Grapsidae
Distribution :
Seychelles :	Mahe, Praslin
World :	Known in Indonesia, Taiwan, Tuamotu and Hawai (Vannini and Valmori, 1981a).
Ecology :
Habitat :	Rocky cliffs, platforms and tidal pools.
Diet :	Algae on rocks
Activity :	diurnal
Burrowing :	No
Description :
Size :	Carapace width : 33 mm, length : 29 mm. Their empty exoskelet can very often be obseved washed on the shore.
Colour :	Legs yellow. Carapace yellow marbled with reddish brown. Claws yellow on both faces, tips dark (Vannini and Valmori, 1981a).
Differences in sexes :
Picture :	Photo from J.Poupin : Crustacea Decapoda and Stomatopoda of French Polynesia

   Genus : Geograpsus Stimpson, 1858

     Species : Geograpsus grayi H. Milne Edwards, 1853

Scientific name :	Geograpsus grayi H. Milne Edwards, 1853
English name :
Creole name :
Family :	Grapsidae
Distribution :
Seychelles :	Coetivy, Aride (Anderson, 1994)
World :	Very common in Madagascar and all the Indian Ocean islands. (Vannini and Valmori, 1981a).
Ecology :
Habitat :	Inland on sandy soil
Diet :
Activity :	nocturnal
Burrowing :	Yes
Description :
Colour :	Blue on top of the carapace and yellow and white on the sides
Size :
Differences in sexes :
Picture :

   Genus : Metopograpsus H. Milne Edwards, 1853

   Genus : Pachygrapsus Randall, 1840

   Genus : Pseudograpsus H. Milne Edwards, 1837

   Genus : Percnon Gistel, 1848