Common Name: Kelp Crab
Scientific Name: Pugettia producta
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family: Animalia, Arthropoda, Malacostraca, Decapoda, Epialtidae
Diet: Herbivorous, will resort to bivalves if scarce algae
Habitat: Dense kelp beds, tidepools with high algae, shores, pilings
Range: Baja California, Mexico to Alaska
Identification: Elongated carapace and slender legs, reddish-brown to green coloration on top with lighter color and red spotting on bottom, no hairs on legs
Reproduction: Eggs develop underneath female’s abdomen
Behavior: Keeps itself hidden from the sun, tries masking itself using algae and such in the of spines of its carapace
Predators: Sea Otters
Fact: Parasitic barnacles can cause sterile individuals or convert males into hermaphrodites (has both female and male reproductive organs)