This page links to photos of Brachyuran crabs we saw in Hawaii in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Much of crab taxonomy depends upon close examination of the numerous appendages, something that is not easily done through in situ photographs of the living animal. We welcome corrections or suggestions at uwkwaj@yahoo.com. We did not focus on crab photography during our time in Hawaii, and photos of crabs were usually taken sporadically to use up the end of a roll of film, and we were limited in size of subject by which extension tube we had mounted on the Nikonos camera. Consequently, coverage is rather skimpy, and there are many more species in the area than we have figured on this site.
Measurements were not taken in the field and animals were not collected, so any sizes given are very rough eyeball estimates often based on distant memories, and are provided only as a general guideline of what to look for. Unless otherwise noted, our crab measurements are estimated widths of the carapace, not including the appendages, which may be much longer.
Click a thumbnail below to see more images of that species or press the browser Back button to return to the previous page.
These are the box crabs. They live in sandy areas, buried by day and often out on top of the sand at night. Powerful pincers are used to break up mollusk shells.
The rear pair of legs of dromiid crabs is situated so that they can be used to hold something over the crab's shell, often a sponge but sometimes tunicates, clumps of soft coral, algae or any other item that may help to shield the crab from predators.
We thank the knowledgeable people in the Facebook Crustacean Identification Group for suggestions on several of these species.
All photos are protected by copyright. Please contact uwkwaj@yahoo.com for more information on purchase, use, or redistribution of any photos.
