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Spiny stone crab

Hapalogaster dentata

  • Crustaceans
  • IUCN: Not evaluated
  • Water temperature14–25 °C
  • Best monthsApril, May, and June
  • How commonRare
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Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Hapalogaster dentata, also called the stone crab or the spiny stone crab, is a species of king crab. It is found in shallow waters in the Yellow Sea on the western Korean Peninsula, Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, and along the coast of Japan as far north as Hokkaido and as far south as Kyushu.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Hapalogaster dentata”, 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: 2 records
  • March: 11 records
  • April: 30 records
  • May: 27 records
  • June: 27 records
  • July: 8 records
  • August: 2 records
  • September: 2 records
  • October: 1 records
  • November: 0 records
  • December: 3 records

Depth and water temperature

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–25 °C

  • 12–14 °C: 2 records
  • 14–16 °C: 1 records
  • 16–18 °C: 0 records
  • 18–20 °C: 95 records
  • 20–22 °C: 0 records
  • 22–24 °C: 0 records
  • 24–26 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English
Spiny stone crab
Names in 2 more languages
Japanese
イボトゲガニ, イボトゲガニ/ヒラトゲガニ, ヒラトゲガニ
Korean
가시투성어리게

Other scientific names: Lomis dentata

Similar species

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).
  • 124 open-data records from 1906 to 2020.
  • Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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