Spinous spider crab
Maja squinado
- Scientific name
- Maja squinado
- Group
- Crustaceans
- Rarity
- Common
- Where to see it
- Mediterranean
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Not evaluated
Did you know?
It decorates its shell with algae and sponges for camouflage, and gathers by the hundreds in shallow water each autumn to molt and mate.
What defines this group — Crustaceans
Armoured arthropods: crabs, shrimp and lobsters, all built around an external shell.
- The skeleton is on the outside; growing means shedding it — the moult.
- Jointed legs in pairs, often reshaped into claws or antennae.
- The larvae drift with the plankton in open water before settling on the bottom.
Other species in this group
- Common hermit crab
- Green shore crab
- Caribbean spiny lobster
- Skunk cleaner shrimp
- Common prawn
- Norway lobster