Black-fingered Coral Clinger

Cymo melanodactylus

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Water temperature21–30 °C
Best monthsMay and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Daniel Eisenhauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Cymo melanodactylus, also known as the furry coral crab, is a species of small crab in the family Xanthidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and lives in crevices and on the surface of corals in the genus Acropora.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cymo melanodactylus”, 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: 3 records
February: 7 records
March: 11 records
April: 9 records
May: 15 records
June: 8 records
July: 10 records
August: 12 records
September: 6 records
October: 5 records
November: 22 records
December: 4 records

Depth and water temperature

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 5 records
28–30 °C: 20 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Black-fingered Coral Clinger

Names in 3 more languages

French: Crabe corail à doigts noirs
Japanese: キモガニ, キモガニ／サイモガニ, サイモガニ
Simplified Chinese: 黑指波紋蟹

Other scientific names: Cancer (Cymo) meladactylus

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).
70 open-data records from 1852 to 2017.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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