Common Japanese intertidal crab
Hemigrapsus penicillatus
- Usual depth0–3 m
- Water temperature12–25 °C
- Best monthsMay
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Timur Kalininsky, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Hemigrapsus penicillatus is a species of crab. The native range of Hemigrapsus penicillatus extends from the Russian Far East along the coasts of Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea, as far south-west as Hong Kong. Although the species was reported from Hawaii in 1903, this is likely to have been an error; there are no recent records of the species in the central Pacific. Reports of H. penicillatus on the coasts of Europe refer to a related species, H. takanoi, which was only distinguished from H. penicillatus in 2005, several years after its discovery in Europe. Hemigrapsus penicillatus lives in the intertidal zone on stony or muddy shores.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hemigrapsus penicillatus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 7 records
- February: 30 records
- March: 8 records
- April: 22 records
- May: 65 records
- June: 23 records
- July: 36 records
- August: 13 records
- September: 17 records
- October: 19 records
- November: 34 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–3 m · Deepest record: 3.4 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 12–25 °C
Photos
(c) Timur Kalininsky, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) stolbovsky, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) りなべる, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Cheng-Tao Lin, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) 大澤風季 ohsawa_Fuki, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Common Japanese intertidal crab, Japanese shore crab, Pacific crab, Pacific shore crab, Penicillate shore crab, common Japanese intertidal crab, Grapsid Crab, Hairy-clawed shore crab, penicillate shore crab
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Japanische Strandkrabbe, Japanische Uferkrabbe
- French
- crabe japonaise
- Japanese
- ケフサイソガニ
- Korean
- 풀게
- Simplified Chinese
- 絨毛近方蟹
Other scientific names: Brachynotus brevidigitatus, Brachynotus penicillatus, Grapsus (Eriocheir) penicillatus, Heterograpsus penicillatus
Similar species
Asian shore crabHemigrapsus sanguineus
Estuarine crabHemigrapsus crenulatus
Common Rock CrabHemigrapsus sexdentatus
Asian brush crabHemigrapsus takanoi
Tunneling Mud CrabAustrohelice crassa
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).
- 790 open-data records from 1983 to 2021.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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