Spectacular crab observations!

It’s really fun to scroll through all your amazing crab observations and to feature a few every couple of months. Thank you to all 1,373 members for adding your observations to this project, as they’re not automatically added (and please remember: NO shrimp or crayfish).

We now have 2,329 species in this project, 11 more than my last post in May. As always, first are species that are new to iNaturalist, and then others that are fabulous. Please notify me if yours is new, otherwise I won’t know, and I’d love to feature more new species!

Here are two of the new crab species:
•The first live Trichoplatus hectori posted on iNaturalist in New Zealand, by @cfauth77 with ID by @clinton:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/227687382

•A Lophopilumnus cristipes (a Heterotrematan Crab) in Australia by @sharmaine3:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/231946148

These aren’t new species, but are quite wonderful:
•A spectacular Echidnocerus cibarius (Puget Sound King Crab) “chowing down on an endangered abalone” (Pinto Abalone) on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada by @leftcoaster (It was iNat’s Observation of the Day!):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223488718

•Some tiny megalops Metacarcinus magister (Dungeness Crab) in Puget Sound, USA, by @hawnzd:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/227251807
and on Galiano Island, Canada, by @chlorophilia:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/225768520

•An outrageous Polydectus cupulifer (Teddy Bear Crab) in Bali, Indonesia, by @albertkang:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/228542463

•Also in Indonesia, an absolutely stunning Lauriea siagiani (Hairy Squat Lobster) by @caleidoskopable:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/233477153

•A molting Pagurus hirsutiusculus (Pacific Hairy Hermit Crab) in California by @sea-kangaroo:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/232189106

•A rarely seen Arcania heptacantha (Purse Crab) in India by @hkarve (recent ID, needs confirmation):
www.inaturalist.org/observations/41162803

Some unusual sightings of critters living on crabs:
•Genus Loxothylacus (a parasitic barnacle) in Alaska by @kljinsitka:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/228236569

•A Lottia pelta (Shield Limpet) living on a Hemigrapsus oregonensis (Hairy Shore Crab) in Washington, USA by me (@wendy5):
www.inaturalist.org/observations/227032067

•And finally, an Australian friend sent me this about an “invasion” of giant spider crabs:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-10/giant-spider-crabs-gather-near-coffin-bay/104080816

Posted on August 4, 2024 12:30 AM by wendy5