Gandalfus puia
- Usual depth270–1,647 m
- Water temperature18–21 °C
- Best monthsMay
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Rob Stewart NIWA/ NIRVANA voyage TAN1213, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Gandalfus puia is the only known New Zealand species of crab in the family Bythograeidae, commonly known as the blind vent crabs. Like other blind vent crabs, it only lives in hydrothermal vent waters. This species was first described in 2007 after specimens were collected from the undersea volcanic ridge near the Kermadec Islands.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Gandalfus puia”, 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: 0 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 0 records
- April: 2 records
- May: 4 records
- June: 0 records
- July: 0 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 1 records
- November: 0 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 270–1,647 m · Deepest record: 1,647 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 18–21 °C
Names and classification
Similar species
Yunohana crabGandalfus yunohana
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).
- 18 open-data records from 2001 to 2012.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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