Bristly crab

Pilumnus hirtellus

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–51 m
Water temperature5–27 °C
Best monthsJune, August, and September
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Ben Jobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Pilumnus hirtellus, the bristly crab or hairy crab, is a species of European crab. It is less than 1 inch (25 mm) long and covered in hair. It lives in shallow water and feeds on carrion.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pilumnus hirtellus”, 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: 263 records
February: 136 records
March: 216 records
April: 211 records
May: 307 records
June: 403 records
July: 306 records
August: 573 records
September: 570 records
October: 261 records
November: 151 records
December: 51 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–51 m · Deepest record: 597.8 m

0–10 m: 467 records
10–20 m: 332 records
20–30 m: 390 records
30–40 m: 328 records
40–50 m: 123 records
50–60 m: 113 records
60–70 m: 25 records
70–80 m: 28 records
80–90 m: 16 records
90–100 m: 6 records
100–110 m: 10 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 5–27 °C

4–6 °C: 1 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 1 records
10–12 °C: 138 records
12–14 °C: 488 records
14–16 °C: 10 records
16–18 °C: 11 records
18–20 °C: 32 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 17 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Ben Jobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Sean Hartnett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lou Wagstaffe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jaro Guzinski, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jamie O'Neill, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Bristly crab, Bristly xanthid crab, Hairy crab, bristly crab, Bristly Crab, bristly xanthid crab, hairy crab

Names in 2 more languages

German: Haarkrabbe, Kleine Borstenkrabbe
French: crabe poilu rouge, Crabe poilu rouge (Le), Crabe velu (Le), Pilumne hérissé (Le), Pilumne hirsute (Le)

Other scientific names: Cancer hirtellus

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).
4,833 open-data records from 1842 to 2024.
Species data updated November 6, 2026.

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