• Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Crustacea
  • Class: Malacostraca
  • Subclass: Eumalacostraca
  • Superorder: Eucarida
  • Order: Decapoda
  • Suborder: Pleocyemata
  • Infraorder: Brachyura
  • Family: Inachidae
  • Scientific name: Macropodia rostrata
  • Norwegian: stankelbenkrabbe

Characteristics:

Like many other small crabs, the long legged spider crab is a master of disguise. With algae attached on its very thin legs, they are easily confused with the stems of small seaweed. The pear-shaped carapace never exceeds a length of 28 mm. Sometimes you can find it trying to cover the body by pulling a seaweed over itself.

Habitat:

You may encounter it on any diveable depth. It rarely goes deeper than 50 meters, but has been reported on 350. It seems to prefer locations with muddy sand.

Distribution:

It is registered in the Mediterranean and East Atlantic Ocean, from the Azores to Nordland, Norway.