Orangutan Crab
Achaeus japonicus
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Malacostraca
- Order
- Decapoda
- Family
- Inachidae
- Genus
- Achaeus
- Species
- Achaeus japonicus
The orangutan crab (Achaeus japonicus) is a small spider crab covered in long, red-brown hairs, giving it the look of a tiny orangutan. Its hairs trap fine silt and algae that add to its camouflage.
It grows to only about 2 cm and lives on bubble coral and other corals, feeding on plankton and debris caught in its hairs.
In the Philippines it is found on coral reefs, usually in the folds of bubble coral.