About
A member of the spider crabs this species grows seaweeds and sponges over its body attaching them to the golden hairs that cover its carapace and legs. This camouflage makes them harder to spot amongst the other seaweeds. Normally where you find one there is another or a group of them. Look for a moving clump of seaweed although they do burry themselves partially making even harder to spot them.The triangular pear-shaped body normally dark reds to browns in colour and the claws feature a lighter coloured ridge along them and are red to orange in colour with white tips. The front of the carapace features two rostral spines forming a V-shape with 9 other outward facing marginal spines around the carapace also no posterior spines.
Note: The features of the carapace in particular the spines and ridges above to eyes and around the edge of the carapace is the true and correct way to identify these crabs, however this can be difficult in live animals given the seaweeds and sponges that cover them the above indicates key differences easily visible without disturbing the crab too much.