"Ashtoret lunaris" is commonly encountered sandy and muddy shores, especially near seagrass beds from the intertidal zone to a depth of 50m. It is usually nocturnal and spends the day buried in the substrate just below the surface creating breathing channels to the surface of the sand. They hunt small shellfish, worms and other animals during the night, they are known to take other crabs. When threatened "A lunaris" often draws its legs up under the overlapping edges of the carapace and appears to sham death, this may make it difficult for a predator to dismember the crab. "Ashtoret lunaris" is fished for food using nets but not in Singapore. "Ashtoret lunaris" was described by the Swedish zoologist Peter Forsskål in 1775. The specific name, "lunaris" refers to the moon. while the generic name "Ashtoret" refers to the Phoenician moon goddess Ashtoreth.