Asian Soldier Crab
Dotilla myctiroides
- Usual depth1.5 m
- Water temperature28–29 °C
- Best monthsJanuary, March, and December
- How commonRare
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
Dotilla myctiroides is a species of sand bubbler crab found on tropical shores and mud-flats of India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. They breed throughout the year but activity peaks during the monsoons. This species builds a burrow, called an "igloo", in unstable sand as well as in well-drained and firm sand. In building the igloo, the crab excavates sand and forms it into spherical pellets. These pellets are used to form a circular wall and roof in the burrow. The resulting structure holds a small amount of air in addition to the crab itself.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Dotilla myctiroides”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 38 records
- February: 25 records
- March: 27 records
- April: 17 records
- May: 20 records
- June: 19 records
- July: 8 records
- August: 8 records
- September: 9 records
- October: 21 records
- November: 20 records
- December: 40 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1.5 m · Deepest record: 1.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 28–29 °C
Photos
(c) Doreen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) lunarjade, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Ong Jyh Seng, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) kalyanvarma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jean Jacques Godon, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Asian Soldier Crab
Names in 1 more languages
- Thai
- ปูทหารก้ามโค้ง
Other scientific names: Doto myctiroides
Similar species
Army CrabDotilla fenestrata
White semaphore crabIlyoplax delsmani
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).
- 51 open-data records from 1852 to 2010.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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