No photo available
Common box crab
Calappa hepatica
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 209501, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Common box crab
- Scientific
- Calappa hepatica
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Crabs
- Family
- Calappidae (box crabs)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 8 cm (carapace width)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 1 to 150 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
A box crab: a crab with a domed shell and large, flat claws that it holds in front of its face like a shield. It buries itself in sand and uses a special claw to peel open snail shells.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=2); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=5, 5 observers); literature records via OBIS; SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Calappa-hepatica.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=209501
- inaturalist.org /taxa/121188
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Calappa_hepatica.JPG
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.