Can anyone ID this crab??

[5Bucks]

Hi there, was just wondering if anyone could help me ID what kind of crab this is?? He came up in a drop net off the coast of Port MacDonnell, it was about 4cm across, and it's shell was kind of soft and velvety feeling, the 2 sets of legs at the back were kind of growing up on the back of it's shell, I hadn't seen anything like it down here before and just wondered what it was?? Thanks.

[tunaticer]

My ex girlfriend knows that bugger personally...........

[rando]

Very common around Muraroa Atoll

[Rainbowrunner]

black spoticus baiticus

[snodger 08]

Hell crab....

[tsea]

Has he been cooked?

Just had a flick through "A field guide to Crustaceans of Australian waters"
No luck.
Used to have a reef aquarium.
Maybe one of the Aquarium guys will Know.
Good luck

TC

[Sea-Dog]

My guess would be some type of sponge crab.

I reckon he'd use the little back legs to hang on to his sponge.

I used to see all sorts of oddities on the sorting tray of the trawlers I worked on.

[5Bucks]

Nah, he's not cooked, just a really bright colour! I have found a fisherman from Port MacDonnell who has told me they get them in the bait baskets of their craypots every now and then, not often, and just in one spot of flat bottom near the Victorian border. But still he didn't know what they were either. I have sent it through to our local fisheris office about a week ago, and they have since passed it on, and I haven't heard anything back from them yet. I've kept him in our marine tank at home, haven't found him on any protected species lists! But yeah, just wondered what he's called!!

[frankgrimes]

My ex girlfriend knows that bugger personally...........

Gold!!

Mick

[ockoman]

umm looks like a juvenile spanner crab to me but i cnt see its claws properly ahahah nice call mate if thats the joke you were making ahaha

[5Bucks]

Have finally googled a pic that looked just like him, which was a sponge crab, so we whacked a couple of bits of sponge in with him which he's now happily wearing around like a massive hat! Strange little guy, thanks everyone for looking and helping out!!