Blunt Decorator Crab

About this species

Camposcia retusa, known commonly as the velcro crab, spider decorator crab, or harlequin crab, is a species of marine crustacea in the family Inachidae. It is known for attaching living sponges and corals to itself, which camouflage it. It is the only species in the genus Camposcia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Camposcia”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 39 records
February: 47 records
March: 43 records
April: 63 records
May: 75 records
June: 65 records
July: 58 records
August: 50 records
September: 58 records
October: 48 records
November: 71 records
December: 40 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–30 m · Deepest record: 102.3 m

0–10 m: 9 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 27 records
26–28 °C: 54 records
28–30 °C: 28 records

Photos

(c) 林正文, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Min-Hsuan NI, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Daniel Eisenhauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Blunt Decorator Crab, Decorator Crab, Disguised Crab, Reef Decorator Crab, Spider Decorator Crab, Velcro Crab

Names in 3 more languages

French: Crabe décorateur, Crabe déguisé
Japanese: モクズショイ, モクズセオイ, モクズセオイ／モクズショイ
Simplified Chinese: 鈍額曲毛蟹

Other scientific names: Maia retuja, Maia retusa

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
269 open-data records from 1829 to 2020.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.