Smooth Shore Crab

About this species

The smooth shore crab is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Grapsidae, found in New Zealand and the Juan Fernández Islands of Chile.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cyclograpsus lavauxi”, 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: 70 records
February: 55 records
March: 59 records
April: 146 records
May: 66 records
June: 74 records
July: 32 records
August: 47 records
September: 69 records
October: 73 records
November: 40 records
December: 70 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–1 m · Deepest record: 1.5 m

0–10 m: 24 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–20 °C

10–12 °C: 2 records
12–14 °C: 6 records
14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 18 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Jon Sullivan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jon Sullivan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Frank Ashwood, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jon Sullivan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jon Sullivan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Smooth Shore Crab

Other scientific names: Cyclograpsus whitei

Similar species

Smooth Shore Crab
Cyclograpsus audouinii
Purple Mottled Shore Crab
Cyclograpsus granulosus
Cyclograpsus insularum
Globose shore crab
Cyclograpsus integer
Cyclograpsus intermedius
Cyclograpsus longipes

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).
272 open-data records from 1920 to 2003.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.