The Decorator Crab, or Collector Crab, is a marine saltwater crustacean in the Majoidea super-family with several different species.
The Decorator Crab is difficult to see in its natural habitat in tropical reefs and lagoons because it covers itself with aquatic plants and materials from its environment.
About 75% of crabs in the Majoidea super-family decorate themselves for camouflage. Some cover themselves completely and some cover themselves a little bit.
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The Red Reef Hermit Crab (Dardanus arrosor) is a decapod crustacean in the Diogenidae family of crabs. It is also known as the Mediterranean Hermit Crab.
The Red Reef Hermit Crab has a beige-coloured shell, called a carapace. The body of the Hermit Crab is hidden in the shell. The colour of its body varies from bright red to bright orange. Its eyes are at the tips of two eyestalks. The eyestalks are streaked red and white, and the eyes are bluish. It is a decapod, which means that it has ten appendages (two claws and eight legs). Its two red claws have a black or yellow tip. The claws have hair-like spines and warty tubercules. The left claw is larger than the right claw.
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The Common Spider Crab is a master at camouflage, using algae to cover itself.
The Common Spider Crab (Libinia emarginata) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Epialtidae family of stenohaline crabs. It is also known as the Portly Spider Crab or the Nine-Spined Spider Crab. It is native to the Atlantic coastal waters of North America.
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The Golden King Crab (Lithodes longispina) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Lithodoidea family of crabs. However, many scientists think it should be classified in the Paguroidea superfamily of hermit crabs. It is a decapod because it has 10 limbs.
The Golden King Crab has five pairs of spiny limbs – 10 limbs. The front pair of legs has claws, or nippers. Its rounded-triangular exoskeleton shell (carapace) is pale orange with spines.
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The Shore Crab (Carcinus maenas) is a crustacean in the Portunidae family of crabs. It is also known as the Littoral Crab and the Green Crab.
The Shore Crab is greenish in colour, but it can also be brown, grey, or red. Its carapace (shell) has five short notches along the edge, behind each eye. It also has three undulations which protrude beyond the eyes. It has ten legs.
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The Purple Rock Crab (Leptograpsus variegatus) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Grapsidae family of large-eyed crabs.
The Purple Rock Crab has a purplish-coloured shell called a carapace. It gains white markings as it matures. The carapace is smooth and shaped like a square.
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The Sleepy Sponge Crab (Dromia dormia) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Dromiidae family of sponge crabs. It is also known as the Common Sponge Crab.
The Sleepy Sponge Crab is narrow at the mouth and widens at the base of its shell, called a carapace. The carapace is an exo-skeleton (an outside skeleton). It has ten appendices, with two large nippers (claws) and eight smaller legs. The last two pairs of legs are shorter than the other legs. It walks sideways. It is beige-brown. It carries a sponge on its back, and sometimes other materials, such as wood.
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The Greater Spiny Crab (Maja brachydactyla) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Majidae family of crabs. It is a majid crab. It is also called a Sea Spider.
The Greater Spider Crab is almost triangular in shape with an olive-khaki-green exo-skeleton (shell) called a carapace. The carapace is covered in spines called tubercles. It has 10 orange legs.
The Greater Spider Crab walks forward – unlike most crabs that walk sideways.
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The Peimatherimi Crab (Fredius platyacanthus) is a crustacean in the Pseudothelphusidae family of freshwater crabs.
The Peimatherimi Crab has a shield-shaped bluish-yellow exo-skeleton (shell) called a carapace. The carapace is covered in spines called tubercles. It has 10 orange-blue legs.
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The Giant Isopod Crustacean (Bathynomus giganteus) is a deep-sea aquatic saltwater crustacean. It is related to the shrimp and the crab.
The Giant Isopod Crustacean is a decapod with 10 legs. It looks like a woodlouse because it has a hard exo-skeleton with overlapping segments. It can curl up into a ball. It has large compound eyes. It is pinkish or pale-lilac in colour.
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What is a crustacean?
A crustacean is an arthropod with a hard exo-skeleton, called a carapace.
A crustacean includes the crab, lobster, crayfish, shrimp, prawn, krill, woodlouse, sandhopper, and barnacle.
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The Common Spider Crab (Libinia emarginata) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean. It is also known as the Portly Spider Crab or the Nine-Spined Spider Crab.
The Common Spider Crab is almost triangular in shape with an olive-khaki-green exo-skeleton (shell) called a carapace. The carapace is covered in spines called tubercles. It has 10 orange legs.
The Common Spider Crab walks forward – unlike most crabs that walk sideways.
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The Common Marine Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus) is a saltwater aquatic decapod (10-armed) crustacean. It is also known as the Soldier Crab.
Hermit crabs include the Marine Hermit Crab, which lives in saltwater, and the Land Hermit Crab, which is terrestrial in tropical regions.
The Common Marine Hermit Crab is a crab inside a shell – its mobile home. It finds empty mollusc shells to live in. It has a long soft body – not like land crabs which have a hard exo-skeleton – which is why it looks for a hard shell to protect it. It can put its whole body inside the shell. As it grows, it looks for larger shells.
The Common Marine Hermit Crab has a spirally-curved soft body (abdomen) with a columella on the tip, which is used to hold onto the shell it occupies. It has 10 appendages (legs, called pereiopods), but two of them are claws, called nippers, pinchers, or chelipeds. Its large black compound eyes are at the end of an eyestalk. It has gills to breathe (like fish).