Crab and crustacean identifier
A rock turned over at low tide is the best hunting ground there is.
Crustaceans live where nobody thinks to look: under a stone, in a rockpool, beneath a flowerpot. This is the group of beach days and damp gardens — and one of the fastest to complete once you know where to look.
How do you identify a crab or a woodlouse?
Crustaceans hide: under a stone, in a rockpool, beneath a flowerpot. That is what makes them easy to photograph once found — lifting the cover is enough, and the animal stays still for a few seconds before bolting. Image identification leans on carapace shape, claw pattern and leg proportion. The shore crab and the garden woodlouse are the two most common entries in this group, and the fastest way to start a collection. SafaRoll covers 25 crustaceans in the catalogue. One rule holds for the whole group: turn the stone, photograph, put it back exactly as it was.
- 01.
At low tide, under a turned-over rock.
- 02.
Under a flowerpot, on a woodlouse.
- 03.
In a rockpool, on a shrimp.
25 species · crustaceans
Commonest firstEuropean Green Crab
Carcinus maenas
Red Swamp Crayfish
Procambarus clarkii
Atlantic Ghost Crab
Ocypode quadrata
Atlantic Blue Crab
Callinectes sapidus
Gooseneck Barnacle
Pollicipes polymerus
Red Rock Crab
Cancer productus
Yellow Shore Crab
Hemigrapsus oregonensis
Dungeness Crab
Metacarcinus magister
Marbled Crab
Pachygrapsus marmoratus
Signal Crayfish
Pacifastacus leniusculus
Blue Land Crab
Cardisoma guanhumi
Edible Crab
Cancer pagurus
Common Hermit Crab
Pagurus bernhardus
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Odontodactylus scyllarus
Triangle
Heterogenea asella
Norway lobster
Nephrops norvegicus
European Spider Crab
Maja squinado
Virile Crayfish
Faxonius virilis
Thin-shelled Rock Crab
Grapsus tenuicrustatus
California Spiny Lobster
Panulirus interruptus
Warty Crab
Eriphia verrucosa
Caribbean Spiny Lobster
Panulirus argus
American Lobster
Homarus americanus
Red King Crab
Paralithodes camtschaticus
Coconut Crab
Birgus latro
What people often ask
Under any flowerpot, in a damp log pile or beneath a garden stone: woodlice are terrestrial crustaceans, and the most accessible members of the whole group.
Identify crustaceans from one photo.
SafaRoll names the species in a second and turns it into a collectible card. Free, unlimited identification, no ads.
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