Hemiplax hirtipes

About this species

The stalk-eyed mud crab is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Macrophthalmidae, endemic to New Zealand including Campbell Island. It grows to around 30 millimetres (1.2 in) shell width.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Stalk-eyed mud crab”, 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: 37 records
February: 21 records
March: 40 records
April: 39 records
May: 17 records
June: 15 records
July: 18 records
August: 18 records
September: 30 records
October: 42 records
November: 42 records
December: 47 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–20 m · Deepest record: 955 m

0–10 m: 82 records
10–20 m: 12 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 9 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–18 °C

10–12 °C: 16 records
12–14 °C: 37 records
14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 39 records

Photos

(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kelvin Perrie · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Stewart Armstrong, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

Other scientific names: Cleistostoma hirtipes, Macrophthalmus (Hemiplax) hirtipes, Metaplax hirtipes

Similar species

Asian shore crab
Hemigrapsus sanguineus
Tunneling Mud Crab
Austrohelice crassa
Smooth Shore Crab
Cyclograpsus lavauxi
Japanese mitten crab
Eriocheir japonica
Gaetice depressus
Estuarine crab
Hemigrapsus crenulatus

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).
206 open-data records from 1931 to 2021.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.