pie crust crab

Metacarcinus novaezelandiae

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth6–82 m
Water temperature9–18 °C
Best monthsApril, August, and September
How commonRare

All species

Photo credit: (c) Heath Hammond, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The pie crust crab, is a species of crab found around New Zealand and south-eastern Australia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pie crust 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: 34 records
February: 26 records
March: 36 records
April: 52 records
May: 21 records
June: 25 records
July: 32 records
August: 38 records
September: 38 records
October: 36 records
November: 27 records
December: 21 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–82 m · Deepest record: 537.5 m

0–10 m: 7 records
10–20 m: 11 records
20–30 m: 8 records
30–40 m: 7 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–18 °C

8–10 °C: 2 records
10–12 °C: 6 records
12–14 °C: 33 records
14–16 °C: 4 records
16–18 °C: 4 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Genevieve Early, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jenny Saito, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jenny Saito, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) John Barkla, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nathan Odgers, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: pie crust crab, Zealand cancer crab

Other scientific names: Cancer novaezealandiae, Platycarcinus novaezelandiae

Similar species

Edible crab
Cancer pagurus
Rock crab
Glebocarcinus amphioetus

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).
217 open-data records from 1907 to 2022.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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