🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨

The teddy bear crab is also referred to as the hairy crab thanks to its coating of long, silky hairs (“setae“) all over its carapace and legs. These hairs protect against predators, camouflaging the crab against the rocky reef background and breaking up the outline of its body. The setae also act as a net, trapping dirt, mud particles, and other bits of detritus, which further enhances its disguise.

The crabs predominantly appear along low intertidal reefs, rocky and pebble shorelines, and Sargassum-covered areas. They can be found across the Red Sea, Indo-Pacific, Australia, and Japan.

Teddy bear crabs feed mostly on larger pieces of algae during the low tide. They are highly fecund. Female teddy bear crabs carry 300–800 eggs at a time and breed continuously between March and December to ensure juvenile recruitment in their home range.