Mole Crab
Emerita austroafricana
- Water temperature23–25 °C
- Best monthsApril and July
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Wynand Uys, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Wynand Uys · CC BY · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 6 records
- February: 7 records
- March: 4 records
- April: 18 records
- May: 7 records
- June: 10 records
- July: 13 records
- August: 6 records
- September: 5 records
- October: 9 records
- November: 2 records
- December: 3 records
Depth and water temperature
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–25 °C
Photos
(c) Wynand Uys, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Wynand Uys · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Mahomed Desai, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Rosemary Harrison, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Rosemary Harrison, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) nmoorhatch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Mole Crab, Sea Louse, South African Mole Crab
Names in 1 more languages
- Spanish
- Cangrejo topo sudafricano
Similar species
Indonesian Mole CrabEmerita emeritus
Pacific mole crabHippa marmorata
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.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 15 open-data records from 1965 to 1992.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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