Velvet Crab

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 37 records
February: 14 records
March: 127 records
April: 35 records
May: 40 records
June: 104 records
July: 29 records
August: 6 records
September: 123 records
October: 26 records
November: 33 records
December: 130 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–10 m · Deepest record: 10 m

0–10 m: 119 records
10–20 m: 16 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–20 °C

12–14 °C: 14 records
14–16 °C: 194 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 353 records
20–22 °C: 73 records

Photos

(c) Peter Crowcroft, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Crowcroft, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Yoav Daniel Bar-Ness, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Grady Duffy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Velvet Crab

Similar species

rough rock crab
Nectocarcinus integrifrons
Red Swimming Crab
Nectocarcinus antarcticus
Nectocarcinus bennetti
Nectocarcinus pubescens
Nectocarcinus spinifrons
Chaceon albus

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
729 open-data records from 1902 to 2007.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.