Crustaceans include crabs, lobsters, shrimps, barnacles, and similar animals. Crustaceans have two-parted limbs and a distinct larval phase. Most are free-living aquatic animals. Their bodes consist of three segments, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. Crustaceans have hard exoskeletons which must be moulted for the animals to grow.
Lobsters have long bodies with muscular tails. They live in crevices or burrows in the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws. Spiny lobsters are not closely related to clawed lobsters.
painted spiny lobster, Panulirus versicolor
Squat lobsters are flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax.
elegant crinoid squat lobster, Allogalathea elegans
Galathea sp.
Crabs are decapod crustaceans which typically have a very short projecting tail which is usually hidden under the thorax. They have a thick exoskeleton and a single pair of pincers.
zebra urchin crab, Zebrida adamsii
Haig's porcelain crab, Porcellanella haigae
conical spider crab, Xenocarcinus conicus
[unidentified porcelain crabs, Lissoporcellana sp.]
[unidentified swimming crab, Caphyra sp.?]
red swimming crab, Charybdis paucidentata
rainbow swimming crab, Charybdis cf erythrodactyla
[unidentified swimming crab, Portunus sp.?]
splendid red spooner crab, Etisus splendidus
arrow crab, Latreillia sp.
[unidentified decorator crabs]
Hydroid decorator crab, Hyastenus bispinosus
Corallimorph decorator crab, Cyclocoeloma tuberculata
bull hydroid crab, Naxioides taurus
[unidentified swimming crab, Portunus sp.?]
[unidentified swimming crabs, Carupa sp.?]
red-dotted guard crab, Trapezia cymodoce
orangutan crab, Oncinopus sp.
Shrimps are decapod crustaceans with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion. Shrimp have thin fragile legs that are used mostly for perching.
night shrmp, Processidae
Metapenaeopsis sp.
Cuapetes sp.
hinge-beak shrimp, Cinetorhynchus sp.
night shrimp, Processidae
purple urchin shrimp, Stegopontonia cf commensalis
squat shrimp, Thor amboinensis
Holthuis's anemone shrimp, Ancylomenes holthuisi
Coleman shrimp, Periclimenes colemani
magnificent anemone shrimp, Ancylomenes magnificus
Ancylomenes sp.
emperor shrimp, Periclimenes imperator
banded coral shrimp, Stenopus hispidus
translucent gorgonium shrimp, Manipontonia psamathe
Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans with an asymmetrical, long, spirally curved, soft abdomen that is concealed in a scavenged mollusc shell carried around by the hermit crab, into which the whole body can retract.
anemone hermit crab, Dardanus pedunculatus
pale anemone hermit crab, Dardanus deformis
tiny hermit crab, Pagurixus rubrovittatus
[unidentified]
[unidentified]
Morgan's coral hermit crab, Paguritta morgani
[unidentified]
Mantis shrimps (stomatopods) have powerful claws that are used to attack and kill prey by spearing, stunning, or dismembering. Their eyes are mounted on mobile stalks and can move independently of each other.
mantis, Lysiosquilla sp.
peacock mantis, Odontodactylus scyllarus
Skeleton shrimp are a kind of amphipod. They have slender threadlike bodies. The males are much larger than the females.
skeleton shrimp, Caprella spp.
Isopods have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennas, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that are used in respiration. Females brood their young in a pouch under the thorax.
sponge isopods, Santia sp.
Amphipods have no carapace and have a laterally compressed body. Most are scavengers.
ladybug amphipods, Cyproideidae
Copepods have a larval form which has a head and tail but no thorax or abdomen. The larva, called a nauplius, is so different from the adult that they were once thought to be a different species. About half of the known copepod species are parasitic.
parasitic copepod, Copepoda
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Last modified 17 October 2019