Purple Rock Crab

About this species

Leptograpsus variegatus, known as the purple rock crab, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Grapsidae, found in southern subtropical Indo-Pacific Oceans. It grows to around 50 millimetres (2.0 in) shell width. It is the only species in the genus Leptograpsus.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Leptograpsus”, 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: 925 records
February: 571 records
March: 667 records
April: 583 records
May: 442 records
June: 350 records
July: 285 records
August: 307 records
September: 507 records
October: 617 records
November: 594 records
December: 799 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–3 m · Deepest record: 8 m

0–10 m: 15 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–25 °C

16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 5 records
20–22 °C: 9 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Shaun Lee · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Emily Roberts, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Grady Duffy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Philipp Pavelka, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jacqui Geux, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Geoff Shuetrim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Purple Rock Crab, Swift-footed Crab

Names in 2 more languages

Spanish: jaiba corredora
Simplified Chinese: 紫岩蟹

Other scientific names: Cancer variegatus, Grapsus personatus, Grapsus planifrons, Grapsus strigilatus, Grapsus variegatus, Leptograpsus ansoni, Leptograpsus gayi, Leptograpsus verreauxi, Sesarma pentagona

Similar species

Cliff crab
Grapsus grapsus
Natal lightfoot crab
Grapsus tenuicrustatus
Mottled lightfoot crab
Grapsus albolineatus
Purple Climber Crab
Metopograpsus frontalis
Red Nipper
Geograpsus stormi
Grapsus granulosus

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).
1,381 open-data records from 1898 to 2011.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.