Scleroplax granulata Rathbun, 1897  Common name(s): Burrow pea crab
Synonyms: Scleroplax granulatus
Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea  Class Malacostraca Subclass Eumalacostraca Superorder Eucarida Order Decapoda Suborder Pleocyemata Infraorder Brachyura Section Brachyrhyncha Family Pinnotheridae
	Scleroplax granulata from a tubeworm burrow in Padilla Bay.  Background ruler scale is cm and mm.  Carapace dimensions for this male are 12 mm wide by 8 mm long.
	(Photo by: Dave Cowles, June 2009)

How to Distinguish from Similar Species:  Mature males and females ofFabia subquadrata have long hairs on legs 3 and 4, plus the dactyls of the walking legs are strongly curved.  Most other pea crabs have a carapace at least 1.5x as wide as long.

Geographical Range:  Porcher Island, British Columbia, Canada to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

Depth Range:  Mid intertidal to 55 m

Habitat:  Commensal in burrows of mudflat hosts such as Neotrypaea californiensis,  style="font-style: italic;">Upogebia pugettensis, and the fat inkeeper worm Urechis caupo.  Johnson and Snook say that the females of this species live in mussels and other bivalves.

Biology/Natural History:  Feeds on detritus.  Also filter feeds with its maxillipeds.  More than one crab may be commensal in the same burrow.  The bryozoan Triticella elongata sometimes grows on the crab.  In central CA, mature females are most abundant February to April but may be found from January to August.

References:

General References:
   Hart, 1982
  Jensen, 1995
  Johnson and Snook, 1955
  Lamb and Hanby, 2005
  McConnaughey and McConnaughey, 1985
  Niesen, 1994
  Niesen, 1997
  Ricketts et al., 1985

Scientific Articles:

Web sites:

General Notes and Observations:  Locations, abundances, unusual behaviors:
 

This closeup of the face and claw of the male shows the red cornea of the eye and the thick propodus and curved dactyl of the cheliped.