Scorpion spider crab (Inachus dorsettensis)

Distribution data supplied by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). To interrogate UK data visit the NBN Atlas.Map Help

Summary

Description

Inachus dorsettensis has a triangular shaped shell (carapace) with long slender legs and a U-shaped snout-like projection (rostrum). It has four small spines on the anterior part of carapace upper surface. The carapace is reddish brown in colour. The underside of the claw bearing limb (cheliped) is bright pink or violet in colour especially the segment behind the claw (the carpus). Female chelipeds are small and the claw (propodus) is somewhat compressed. Male chelipeds are large, with a short and swollen propodus. The carapace length is around 3.5 cm, with a breadth of 2.7 cm. The eye stalks are also totally visible from above.

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Widely distributed around the British Isles with sparse records along the east coast of England and west coast of Ireland.

Global distribution

Recorded in the north east Atlantic from mid Norway southwards to the Spanish Sahara (West Africa), probably the whole of the Mediterranean.

Habitat

Inachus dorsettensis occurs in coastal waters from about 4 m to at least 300 m offshore on various substrates such as sand, muddy sand and seaweed-covered rocky beds.

Depth range

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Identifying features

  • Chelipeds equal in size.
  • Carapace triangular, and longer than broad.
  • U-shaped cleft separating each half of the rostrum.
  • Well developed spines ranging across the anterior part of the carapace.

Additional information

Inachus dorsettensis covers itself in tiny pieces of sponge and sea weed to provide camouflage. It is often found living in the tentacles of the snakelocks anemone (see Ingle, 1996 for further details).

Listed by

- none -

Further information sources

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Bibliography

  1. Bradshaw, C., Veale, L.O., Hill, A.S. & Brand, A.R., 2002. The role of scallop-dredge disturbance in long-term changes in Irish Sea benthic communities: a re-analysis of an historical dataset. Journal of Sea Research, 47, 161-184. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S1385-1101(02)00096-5

  2. Bryant, A.D. & Hartnoll, R.G., 1995. Reproductive investment in two spider crabs with different strategies. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 188, 261-275.

  3. Crothers, J. & Crothers, M., 1988. A key to the crabs and crab-like animals of British inshore waters. Somerset, England: Field Studies Council. [AIDGAP guide, no. 155.]

  4. Fish, J.D. & Fish, S., 1996. A student's guide to the seashore. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  5. Hall-Spencer, J.M., Froglia, C., Atkinson, R.J.A & Moore, P.G., 1999. The impact of Rapido trawling for scallops, Pecten jacobaeus (L.), on the benthos of the Gulf of Venice. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 56, 111-124

  6. Hartnoll, R.G., Bryant, A.D. & Gould, P., 1993. Size distribution in spider crab populations - spatial and temporal variation. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 13, 647-655.

  7. Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S. (ed.) 1995b. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  8. Howson, C.M. & Picton, B.E., 1997. The species directory of the marine fauna and flora of the British Isles and surrounding seas. Belfast: Ulster Museum. [Ulster Museum publication, no. 276.]

  9. Ingle, R., 1997. Crayfishes, lobsters and crabs of Europe. An illustrated guide to common and traded species. London: Chapman and Hall.

  10. Ingle, R.W., 1980. British Crabs. Oxford: British Museum (Natural History), Oxford University Press.

  11. Ingle, R.W., 1996. Shallow-water Crabs, (2nd edn). Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council. [Synopses of the British Fauna, no 25]

  12. JNCC (Joint Nature Conservation Committee), 1999. Marine Environment Resource Mapping And Information Database (MERMAID): Marine Nature Conservation Review Survey Database. [on-line] http://www.jncc.gov.uk/mermaid

  13. Lebour, M.V., 1927. Studies of the Plymouth Brachyura. I. The rearing of crabs in captivity with a description of the larval stages of Inachus dorsettensis, Macropodia longirostris and Maia squinado. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 14, 795-821.

Datasets

  1. Centre for Environmental Data and Recording, 2018. Ulster Museum Marine Surveys of Northern Ireland Coastal Waters. Occurrence dataset https://www.nmni.com/CEDaR/CEDaR-Centre-for-Environmental-Data-and-Recording.aspx accessed via NBNAtlas.org on 2018-09-25.

  2. Environmental Records Information Centre North East, 2018. ERIC NE Combined dataset to 2017. Occurrence dataset: http://www.ericnortheast.org.ukl accessed via NBNAtlas.org on 2018-09-38

  3. Manx Biological Recording Partnership, 2022. Isle of Man historical wildlife records 1990 to 1994. Occurrence dataset:https://doi.org/10.15468/aru16v accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-09-27.

  4. National Trust, 2017. National Trust Species Records. Occurrence dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/opc6g1 accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-10-01.

  5. NBN (National Biodiversity Network) Atlas. Available from: https://www.nbnatlas.org.

  6. OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System),  2025. Global map of species distribution using gridded data. Available from: Ocean Biogeographic Information System. www.iobis.org. Accessed: 2025-07-26

Citation

This review can be cited as:

Edwards, R.V. 2005. Inachus dorsettensis Scorpion spider crab. In Tyler-Walters H. and Hiscock K. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 26-07-2025]. Available from: https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/1969

Last Updated: 01/11/2005