(Milne Edwards, 1828)
Description:
Body up to 7 mm (excluding the uropods). Cephalothorax slightly longer than broad, with a narrow, parallel-sided, short, rostrum, produced apically into a single thin spine. Eyes present. Epistomal spine absent.
Medio-ventral pleonal spines present. Antero-lateral margins of pereionites not produced. Pleonal epimera posteriorly deflected at apices, each apex with a spine. Pleotelson shorter than the pleon.
The chelipeds are markedly sexually dimorphic: in the male they are robust with a prominent tooth on the inner margins of the propodus and dactylus; in the female the chela is more slender and without teeth.
Habitat:
It is found on the mid to lower shore under stones, in rock crevices and in muddy gravel. It also occurs in kelp holdfasts, coralline algae and Zostera roots.
Distribution:
Recorded from southern and north-eastern coasts of England, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, and eastern Scotland. Records also exist for the French and Italian coasts.