Three-pronged Spider Crab

Halicarcinus ovatus

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–16 m
Water temperature14–23 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and June
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) Kate Nolan (Museum Victoria), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 92 records
February: 82 records
March: 196 records
April: 123 records
May: 113 records
June: 121 records
July: 47 records
August: 29 records
September: 115 records
October: 45 records
November: 87 records
December: 90 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–16 m · Deepest record: 51.7 m

0–10 m: 30 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–23 °C

12–14 °C: 5 records
14–16 °C: 276 records
16–18 °C: 25 records
18–20 °C: 200 records
20–22 °C: 194 records
22–24 °C: 37 records

Photos

(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rosie Steinberg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Crowcroft, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Three-pronged Spider Crab

Names in 1 more languages

Simplified Chinese: 卵形合额蟹, 卵形滨蟹

Other scientific names: Halicarcinus krefftii, Hymenicus Haasti, Hymenicus Krefftii

Similar species

Cook's Pillbox Crab
Halicarcinus cookii
Flattened Crab
Halicarcinus planatus
Flat Pillbox Crab
Halicarcinus quoyi
Variable pillbox crab
Halicarcinus varius
Estuarine Pillbox Crab
Halicarcinus whitei
Tong's Pillbox Crab
Halicarcinus tongi

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).
1,246 open-data records from 1900 to 2012.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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