pelagic red crab

About this species

Grimothea planipes, also known as the pelagic red crab, red crab, or tuna crab, is a species of squat lobster from the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Grimothea planipes”, 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: 28 records
February: 25 records
March: 29 records
April: 49 records
May: 113 records
June: 150 records
July: 47 records
August: 57 records
September: 32 records
October: 19 records
November: 19 records
December: 11 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 28–1,200 m · Deepest record: 3,694.2 m

0–10 m: 5 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 65 records
30–40 m: 4 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 46 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–29 °C

10–12 °C: 15 records
12–14 °C: 33 records
14–16 °C: 18 records
16–18 °C: 49 records
18–20 °C: 25 records
20–22 °C: 16 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 5 records
26–28 °C: 2 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Sula Vanderplank, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Adam J. Searcy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) TonyT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Noah Doughty, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) jbradbury, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jonathan Eisen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jackie H, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: pelagic red crab, tuna crab

Names in 3 more languages

German: pelagischer Furchenkrebs, Roter Hochsee-Scheinhummer
Spanish: Langosta chaparra
French: galathée pélagique

Other scientific names: Pleuroncodes planipes

Similar species

Channel Squat Lobster
Grimothea gregaria
yellow squat lobster
Grimothea johni
Grimothea krishaha
Grimothea notialis
Curtonida isos
Agononida incerta

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).
402 open-data records from 1938 to 2017.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.