The brush-clawed shore crab is a small Asian crab named for the fuzzy tuft of yellow-brown bristles on adult males' claws. Native to the coasts of Japan, Korea, China, and the Russian Far East, it has spread to European shores since the 1990s, apparently carried on ship hulls. It has no documented records in the US, where its relative the Asian shore crab is the familiar invader.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A square shell up to about 1 in (2.5 cm) across, with three teeth on each side. Color varies from orange-brown to greenish black, with tiny dark spots on the shell, legs, and pale claws.
Look-alikes
The Asian shore crab has boldly banded legs, larger purple, red, or brown spots on its claws, and large males have a fleshy bulb at the claw base instead of a fuzzy tuft. It also grows larger, up to about 1.8 in (4.5 cm).
Why they get mixed upBoth are small square-shelled Asian Hemigrapsus crabs with three teeth on each side.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Mudflats
- Estuaries
- Harbors
- Sheltered bays
- Range
- Native to the northwest Pacific. Outside Asia it is an introduced species along the Atlantic and North Sea coasts of Europe, from Spain to the Baltic. It is not known from the wild in the US.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers calm, sheltered spots on muddy shores, hiding under boulders and other hard structures between the tides.
Behavior
- Diet
- Omnivorous, eating small invertebrates, small fish, and algae. In Europe it readily feeds on blue mussels.
Life cycle
- Larva
- Larvae drift in the plankton for nearly a month before settling, which helps the species spread to new shores.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Until 2005 it was lumped with the very similar Hemigrapsus penicillatus. Early European reports used that name, but the crabs there turned out to be this species.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- It probably reached Europe around 1993 on the hull of a car-carrier ship that sailed between Asian and European ports, and was first found at La Rochelle, France, in 1994.
More species to explore
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