Soft Coral Crab

Q: Where can you find Soft Coral Crab?

Soft Coral Crab can be found in: Bali, Egypt East, Laccadive Islands, Mariana Islands, Australia West, Saudi Arabia West, Oman North, Malaysia East, Taiwan, Australia North, Marshall Islands, Malaysia West, Somalia East, Vanuatu, Sudan, Brunei, China, Myanmar, Eritrea, Australia, Hong Kong, Kenya, Qatar, India, Israel, Japan South, India West, Thailand East, Thailand West, Israel South, Saudi Arabia East, Oman, Oman East, Somalia North, Australia East, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam, Seychelles, Cambodia, Indo-Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Iraq, Polynesia, Singapore, Tanzania, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, South Africa, Red Sea, Japan, Indonesia, Chagos Islands, Mozambique, Jordan, Palau, Philippines, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Egypt, Tonga and Samoa, Yemen, Mascarene Islands, Madagascar, Kiribati, Djibouti, Iran South, United Arab Emirates, Comoros, Fiji, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Somalia.

Hoplophrys oatesi

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Hoplophrys is a monotypic genus of crab in the family Epialtidae. It contains the single species Hoplophrys oatesi, also known as the candy crab, Oates's soft coral crab, commensal soft coral crab and Dendronephthya crab.

Description

Hoplophrys oatesi is a very colourful crab that grows from 1.5 to 2 cm. It lives on various species of soft coral in the Dendronephthya genus. It camouflages itself by mimicking the colours of the polyps among which it hides. It adds further camouflage by attaching polyps to its carapace. Colours vary depending on the colour of the coral, and may be white, pink, yellow or red.

The first pair of legs of this species has small claws. The body has pointed spines with a red and white pattern, similar in appearance to the host coral.