Asian brush crab
Hemigrapsus takanoi
- Usual depth0–4 m
- Water temperature10–21 °C
- Best monthsAugust and September
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Klaus Kevin Kristensen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Hemigrapsus takanoi, the brush-clawed shore crab or Asian shore crab, is a small crab of the family Varunidae that lives on rocky shores surrounding the Pacific Ocean, and which is invasive along the European coastlines. This crab is omnivorous and eats small fish, invertebrates and algae.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hemigrapsus takanoi”, 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: 59 records
- February: 40 records
- March: 83 records
- April: 207 records
- May: 144 records
- June: 101 records
- July: 222 records
- August: 240 records
- September: 387 records
- October: 157 records
- November: 60 records
- December: 32 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–4 m · Deepest record: 10.4 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 10–21 °C
Photos
(c) Maria, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Jack Sewell, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Tommy Andriollo, 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
- Asian brush crab, Brushclawed crab, Brush-clawed shore crab, Hairy-clawed shore crab, Japanese crab, brushclawed crab, brush-clawed shore crab, Brush-clawed shore crab, Japanese crab, hairy-clawed shore crab, japanese crab
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Japanische Pinselscheren-Strandkrabbe
- French
- crabe à pinceaux, Crabe à pinceaux de Takano, Crabe à pinceaux (Le), crabe japonaise
- Japanese
- タカノケフサイソガニ
- Korean
- 털다발풀게
- Simplified Chinese
- 高野近方蟹
Other scientific names: Hemigrapsus tanakoi
Similar species
Asian shore crabHemigrapsus sanguineus
Estuarine crabHemigrapsus crenulatus
Common Japanese intertidal crabHemigrapsus penicillatus
Common Rock CrabHemigrapsus sexdentatus
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).
- 2,663 open-data records from 2002 to 2023.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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