Galathea squamifera

Carlo Ravenna Galathea squamifera

Luca Zorzo Galathea squamifera Trieste - Italy canon 550d + canon ef-s 60 macro 2x Inon Z-240 1/200 - f/14 - iso 100

Tamsyn MAnn Captured in Babbacombe... Galathea squamifera (Olive squat lobster) It's shedding it's old skin. Not seen this before.

Dave Skingsley Some echinoderms from the Isle of Cumbrae - and a squat lobster that I only noticed once I looked at the picture on the big screen (not an uncommon experience when using macro lenses in the wild. Asterias rubens, Psammechinus miliaris and probably Galathea squamifera

Andy Horton Psammechinus miliaris : just checking my spelling ???

Andy Horton It is uncommon intertidally off Sussex. http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4216 Found in the colder months. February is likely to be best.

Neil Watson I saw this crab in Selsey, West Sussex off the life boat station in about 4-5m of water. It is probably 8cm across. Any help with identifying it would be great. Thanks.

Marco Faasse It is Galathea squamifera.

João Pedro Silva Looks like a Galathea sp. Not sure about which species though. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/6350374915/

Rob Spray I'd agree with that, it's not a crab as such - it's a squat lobster.

Neil Watson Brilliant, thanks. I have just added another pic from the same dive, is it another type of squat lobster? There was a few of them on the dive whereas the one in this picture was the only one I saw.

João Pedro Silva They're often inside crevices and holes or under rocks during the day. Occasionally they'll be out hunting in overcast days like this large Galathea strigosa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/8386710567/

Neil Watson The vis was about 1.5m and it was very silty, also it was about 8:45 in the morning and the sun was not that bright. That explains why I saw loads on this dive whereas I have not clearly seen them before.

João Pedro Silva I often find them on night dives. G. strigosa has those distinct blue markings which make it easier to identify. Not sure about the other I've tentatively identified as G. squamifera but I suspect the shape of the pincers may indicate there's more than one species involved. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/tags/galatheasquamifera/

René Weterings "Galathea squamifera" in close up Olympus E-PL2 with Olympus housing 14-42mm @ 42mm + Inon UCL165 ISO 200 f/10 1/60s (cropped)

Jack de Vries very nice shot Rene

René Weterings Thank you Jack!