Orang Utan Crab

Description:

Achaeus japonicus, sometimes known as the orang-utan crab, is a crab of the family Inachidae (spider crabs or decorator crabs) which can be observed in tropical waters of the central Indo-Pacific. With a carapace of only about 2 centimetres or 0.8 inches in diameter, it has relatively long arms, which are thickly covered with fine hairs, red or reddish brown in colour, and often laden with small bits of debris for further camouflage. It is frequently, but not always, found in association with the bubble coral Plerogyra sinuosa. Humann and DeLoach[6] classify the orang-utan crab as "Oncinopus sp. 1" and assert it was "formerly classified" as Achaeus japonicus, though they describe their own genus identification as "tentative."

Notes:

Affectionately called as Orang Utan Crab due to the flowing brownish/red algae on its body that really looks like the body/arms of real Orang Utan .