Relatively large crab (shell width up to 12 cm) with modified back appendages for swimming. Asian paddle crabs have 6 spikes on either side of their shell between their eyes and their claws. They are green in colour (varied from pale green to a darker olive green) and can have brown to yellow-orange markings on the top of its shell (the carapace). End of the claws and tips of the legs have white markings.

Can live in range of habitats from rocky reefs to estuarine environments in both the intertidal and subtidal. Originally native to Southeast Asia (Japan, Korea and Malaysia).

Shellfish, benthic organisms.

Produce hundreds of thousands of offspring that can survive as larvae in the water for 3 to 4 weeks. Reproduction is thought to be limited to occur in waters above 20 degrees Celsius.

This is an INVASIVE SPECIES

https://marinebiosecurity.org.nz/charybdis-japonica/ Images from: Colin McLay (University of Canterbury) and Serena Wilkens (NIWA)