16 February 2010

Tuesday Crustie: Boxer without gloves



Michal Grabowski sent this picture to the CRUST-L list with a request that people help identify this animal.

It comes from the Great Barrier Reef, I think it belongs to family Goneplacidae, but would like someone to verify it and if possible assign any generic name to it.

Everyone who replied suggested it is Lybia tesselata. One person offering the tidbit that it often has anemones in its claws, and is sometimes called the “boxer crab” or “pom pom crab.” There are no anemones on this particular specimen, but it’s great to look at regardless. Love the banding.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice Picture and a fine specimen! An anemone might have spoilt the looks of this guy :)