King crabs are a taxon of decapod crustaceans that are chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food with the most common being the red king crab.
Carcinisation is an example of convergent evolution in which a crustacean evolves into a crab-like form from a non-crab-like form. The term was introduced into evolutionary biology by L. A. Borradaile, who described it as "one of the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab". Most carcinised crustaceans belong to the infraorder Anomura.
The halloween hermit crab, also known as the striped hermit crab or orange-legged hermit crab, is a brightly colored aquatic hermit crab of the family Diogenidae. Besides its ability to routinely clean algae in aquaria, the halloween hermit crab's festive striped coloration also appeals to enthusiasts; it is considered the most brightly colored hermit crab in normal aquarium use.
Kiwa is a genus of marine decapods living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The animals are commonly referred to as "yeti lobsters" or "yeti crabs”, after the legendary yeti, because of their "hairy" or bristly appearance. The genus is placed in its own family, Kiwaidae, in the superfamily Chirostyloidea.
Oedignathus inermis is a species of king crab found off the Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, from California to Alaska, and disjunctly around the coasts of Japan. It is the only species in the genus Oedignathus, and is sometimes called the granular claw crab, paxillose crab or tuberculate nestling lithode crab.
Rhinolithodes wosnessenskii, also called the rhinoceros crab or golf-ball crab, is a species of king crab, the only species in the genus Rhinolithodes. The species is named after Ilya Gavrilovich Voznesenski. It is found at depths of 6–73 metres (20–240 ft) in the north-east Pacific Ocean from Kodiak, Alaska to Crescent City, California.
Munidopsis serricornis is a species of squat lobster. It is widely distributed in the world's oceans, being found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the western Atlantic Ocean, and the Indo-Pacific. It grows up to a carapace length of 20 millimetres (0.8 in).
Nebaliopsis typica is a species of leptostracan crustacean, the only species in the genus Nebaliopsis. It is exceptionally large for a leptostracan, at up to 40 millimetres (1.6 in) in length, compared to 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) for the other species. It is also the only species not to brood its eggs, but instead lays them directly into the water; correspondingly, there is no sexual dimorphism in Nebaliopsis.
Percnon gibbesi is a species of crab. It is one of at least two species commonly called Sally Lightfoot, and is also referred to as the nimble spray crab or urchin crab. It has been described as "the most invasive decapod species to enter the Mediterranean".
The Pylochelidae are a family of hermit crabs. Its members are commonly called the 'symmetrical hermit crabs'. They live in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic and the Antarctic, at depths of 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Due to their cryptic nature and relative scarcity, only around 60 specimens had been collected before 1987, when a monograph was published detailing a further 400.
Dardanus pedunculatus, commonly referred to as the anemone hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab from the Indo-Pacific region. It lives at depths of up to 27 m and collects sea anemones to place on its shell for defence.
The Aeglidae are a family of freshwater crustaceans currently restricted to South America. They are the only anomurans to be found in fresh water except for a single hermit crab species, Clibanarius fonticola, on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. They live between 20° S and 50° S, at altitudes between 320 and 3,500 m (1,050–11,480 ft).
Dromia dormia, the sleepy sponge crab or common sponge crab, is the largest species of sponge crab. It grows to a carapace width of 20 cm (8 in) and lives in shallow waters across the Indo-Pacific region.
The Pylojacquesidae are a small family of hermit crabs, comprising only two species in two genera. The family was erected in 2001, after two specimens at Museum für Naturkunde at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin were recognised as being quite distinct from other described hermit crabs. The family members differ from other hermit crabs in that their mandibles are chitinous and toothed.
Calcinus tubularis is a species of hermit crab. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and around islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where it lives below the intertidal zone. Its carapace, eyestalks and claws are marked with numerous red spots. C. tubularis and its sister species, C. verrilli, are the only hermit crabs known to show sexual dimorphism in shell choice, with males using normal marine gastropod shells, while females use shells of gastropods in the family Vermetidae, which are attached to rocks or other hard substrates.
Neolithodes is a genus of king crabs, in the family Lithodidae. They are found in all major oceans, both in high and low latitudes. Although there are records from water as shallow as 124 m (407 ft) in cold regions, most records are much deeper, typically 700–2,000 m (2,300–6,600 ft), with the deepest confirmed at 5,238 m (17,185 ft). They are fairly large to large crabs that typically are reddish in color and spiny, although the size of these spines varies depending on species.
Allopetrolisthes spinifrons is a species of porcelain crab. It displays "hypercarcinisation", whereby the resemblance to a true crab is enhanced by sexual dimorphism of the abdomen. It lives along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile, as a symbiont of a sea anemone.
Petrolisthes armatus, the green porcelain crab, is a species of small porcelain crab in the family Porcellanidae. It is believed to be native to Brazil but has spread to other parts of the world. Populations in the south eastern part of the United States have increased dramatically and the species is considered to be an invasive species.
Emerita talpoida, known generally as the Atlantic mole crab or Atlantic sand crab, is a species of mole crab in the family Hippidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Mexico along the shoreline.
Petrolisthes violaceus is a species of porcelain crab endemic to the south-eastern Pacific.
