Lady Crabs, Ovalipes ocellatus, in the Gulf of Maine

Abstract

The Lady Crab (Ovalipes ocellatus), mainly found south of Cape Cod and in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, is reported from an ocean beach on the north shore of Massachusetts Bay (42°28′60″N, 70°46′ 20″W) in the Gulf of Maine. All previously known Gulf of Maine populations north of Cape Cod Bay are estuarine and thought to be relicts of a continuous range during the Hypsithermal. The population reported here is likely a recent local habitat expansion.