Callinectes Ornatus

The Callinectes Ornatus is a small and agile swimming crab that frequents the quiet coasts. These crabs favour sandy and muddy bottoms along bays, lagoon mouths, and the edges of thin seagrass. It handles a wide range of salinities and often works the boundary where clearer bay water meets the creek outflow. On calm days, look for shallow tracks and quick side sprints in the inner shallows of Prince Rupert Bay, around the Indian River mouth, and along gently sloping beaches near protected inlets, especially at dusk.

Ecology and identification

Adults typically reach about 7–9 cm in carapace width. The shell shows nine lateral teeth on each side, and the front margin presents six small “frontal” teeth. Claws are slender with bluish tips (more vivid in males), and the hind legs are flattened into oar-like paddles for fast bursts and sudden burying. An opportunistic feeder, the crab hunts small bivalves, polychaete worms, amphipods and shrimps, and takes fish carrion when available. It is crepuscular to nocturnal, spending brighter hours half-buried with only eyes and antennae exposed. Mating follows the female’s molt; males cradle soft females until the shell hardens. In tropical waters, egg-bearing females occur much of the year, with larvae drifting offshore through several zoeal stages before megalopa return to sheltered shallows.

Sightings and best viewing areas

Time visits for the last two hours of daylight or early nightfall. In shin-deep water inside Prince Rupert Bay, watch for a quick sprint followed by a shallow dig that hides the body and leaves the eyes showing. After light seas, scan the first sand tongues at the Indian River mouth; on clearer mornings, a short snorkel over thin seagrass beds can reveal crabs cruising just above the bottom. Step on firm sand where possible to avoid collapsing burrows, and observe from the margin so animals resume natural foraging.