Malacostracans · Decapoda · Galatheidae

Rugose Squat Lobster

Munida rugosa

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

A squat lobster of orange colour with a carapace scored by transverse ridges and long, slender claws. By day it shelters in crevices and under stones with only its claws showing, and at night it comes out in search of scraps and small invertebrates.

Size

3 cm – 6 cm

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

OceanOmnivore Nocturnal Solitary Ocean Crustacean

31countries 46parks 79dive sites

Fun facts

Despite looking like a miniature lobster, it is more closely related to the hermit crabs than to the true lobsters.
It swims backwards at speed by flexing its abdomen sharply when it feels threatened.
It is neither a crab nor a lobster: squat lobsters are anomurans, more closely related to hermit crabs, and carry the abdomen folded under the body rather than extended.
It has very long claws, far longer than the rest of the body, which it holds out in front of it.
It swims backwards with flicks of the abdomen when threatened, as lobsters do.
It is an opportunistic scavenger, and turns up often as bycatch in Norway lobster fisheries.