Crab ID

[Scubie Doo]

About one week ago I was positive I saw a rust colored hairy crab at Redondo. A species I had never seen before. While diving at Three Tree North last night I came across this little creature. It was by the 'golf-ball' boat where the large GPO lives. It moved like a tarantula. I snapped several pictures before heading back up for my safety stop. Does anyone have a positive ID on this? I thought it looked like a Pygmy Rock Crab, but not 100% sure.

[Greg Jensen]

Yep, Cancer oregonensis. They vary a lot in the surface texture of their carapace- some are nearly smooth, while others can have even bigger 'warts' than this one.

[Dusty2]

Great pic!

[Scubie Doo]

Thanks Greg... and Dusty2 :-)

[Scubie Doo]

Greg, Quick question. Are these rare? Is this a juvenile? I have never seen one before.

[Dusty2]

Quite common actually but usually concealed inside a giant barnacle shell or some where out of sight. Start looking closely at abandoned barnacle shells and you'll see lots of these little guys not to mention many other critters that frequent them like grunt sculpins, mosshead and decorated warbonnets. Probably an adult as they don't get very large at all.

[Scubie Doo]

Thanks Dusty. I love finding new critters :-)

[Greg Jensen]

Ditto what Dusty said. Given the size of the sand grains and barnacle fragments in the picture, it's a pretty small one- could be mature if it's a female, but probably not if it's a male. They max out at about 2" across the carapace.