T. hirtipes can be distinguished from members of the genus Discoplax by the smooth and distinctly inflated carapace. It is also blue or blue-brown in colour, compared to purple or purple-brown in the remaining species.[2]
The breeding season for T. hirtipes lasts seven months, and females must migrate to the sea to release their larvae.[3]
Tuerkayana hirtipes was originally described by James Dwight Dana under the name Cardisoma hirtipes. His description was published in 1851 based on material collected on the United States Exploring Expedition ("Wilkes expedition") in Fiji.[7] The type material has been lost, so a neotype from Fiji was designated in 2012.[4]
In late 2018, a re-examination of the taxonomy of Gecarcinidae resulted in the creation of the genus Tuerkayana, which was created with four species from Cardisoma and Discoplax, including hirtipes.[8]
^"Discoplax hirtipes". Crabs of Japan. Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
^ abPeter K. L. Ng & Tsi-Te Shih (2014). "The systematics of the land crabs of the Discoplax hirtipes (Dana, 1851) species-group (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinidae), with description of a new species from the eastern Indian Ocean". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement No. 30: 109–135.
