Carrying crab
Lybia tessellata
- Usual depth2–8 m
- Water temperature24–29 °C
- Best monthsJuly, August, and October
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Lybia tessellata is a species of small crab in the family Xanthidae. It is found in shallow parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. They are found from the east coast of Africa in the Red Sea across Northern Japan and Northern and Eastern Hawaii. Like other members of the genus Lybia, it is commonly known as the pom-pom crab, cheerleader crab, or boxer crab because of its habit of carrying a sea anemone around in each of its claws, these resembling pom-poms or boxing gloves.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Lybia tessellata”, 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: 25 records
- February: 15 records
- March: 29 records
- April: 24 records
- May: 23 records
- June: 26 records
- July: 31 records
- August: 33 records
- September: 30 records
- October: 46 records
- November: 23 records
- December: 28 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–8 m · Deepest record: 8 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C
Photos
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Daniel Eisenhauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Carrying crab, Common boxing crab, Boxer Crab, carrying crab, common boxing crab, Lybia tesselata, Mosaic Boxer Crab
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Boxerkrabbe anemone
- Spanish
- Cangrejo Boxeador Picasso
- French
- Crabe boxeur à mosaïque
- Japanese
- キンチャクガニ
- Simplified Chinese
- 花紋細螯蟹
Other scientific names: Grapse tessellata, Melia tessellata, Melia tresselata
Similar species
Floral Egg CrabAtergatis floridus
Smooth spoonerEtisus laevimanus
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).
- 106 open-data records from 1812 to 2023.
- Species data updated November 4, 2026.
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