Sea cucumber crab

Lissocarcinus orbicularis

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–100 m
Water temperature24–29 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonRare

About this species

Lissocarcinus orbicularis, common names sea cucumber crab, red-spotted white crab, and harlequin crab is a species of crab in the family Portunidae. This species gains one of its names from its close-knit relationship with holothuroids, the sea cucumbers. L. orbicularis should not be confused with L. laevis, a similar species of swimming crab, or Camposcia retusa, both of which are also commonly referred to as the harlequin crab. L. orbicularis displays numerous morphological and social adaptations for feeding and has a large distribution throughout the Indo-West Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lissocarcinus orbicularis”, 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: 1 records
March: 1 records
April: 1 records
May: 3 records
June: 1 records
July: 3 records
August: 1 records
September: 1 records
October: 3 records
November: 8 records
December: 3 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–100 m · Deepest record: 100 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C

22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 11 records
26–28 °C: 4 records
28–30 °C: 19 records

Names and classification

English: Sea cucumber crab, Sea cucumber swimming crab, sea cucumber crab, sea cucumber swimming crab

Names in 4 more languages

German: Seegurken-Schwimmkrabbe
Spanish: Jaiba Payaso
French: Crabe arlequin des holothuries
Japanese: ナマコマルガザミ

Other scientific names: Lissocarcinus pulchellus

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).
243 open-data records from 1852 to 2012.

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