Crabs of San Franscisco Bay Area

Striped (Lined) Shore Crab - Pachygrapsus crassipes Photo credit: Ken Schneider via Flickr	Purple Shore Crab - Hemigrapsus nudus Photo credit: Dan Hershman via Flickr
Yellow Shore Crab - Hemigrapsus oregonensis Photo credit: Jerry Kirkhart via Flickr	Dungeness Crab - Metacarcinus magister Photo credit: Dan Boone, USFWS, via Wikimedia Commons
Slender (Graceful) Crab - Metacarcinus gracilis Photo credit: Lynette Schimming via Flickr	Pacific Rock Crab - Cancer antennarius Image Source: KQED QUEST - Some rights reserved.
Red Rock Crab - Cancer productus	Flat Porcelain Crab - Petrolisthes cinctipes Photo credit: NPS
Shield-backed Kelp Crab - Pugettia producta Photo credit: Lynette Schimming via Flickr

The Bay area has a lot of shoreline and access to seawater. So it is possible to see several species of Crabs. They are found in both habitats - the Bay and the coast.

• Bay Area Crabs
• Books
• Articles and Links

• Striped (Lined) Shore Crab - Pachygrapsus crassipes
• Purple Shore Crab - Hemigrapsus nudus
• Yellow Shore Crab (Mud-flat Crab) - Hemigrapsus oregonensis
• Dungeness Crab - Metacarcinus magister
• Slender (Graceful) Crab - Metacarcinus gracilis
• Pacific (Brown) Rock Crab - Romaleon antennarium
• Red Rock Crab - Cancer productus
• Decorator Crab - Loxorhynchus crispatus
• Sheep Crab - Loxorhynchus grandis
• Blueband Hermit Crab - Pagurus samuelis
  Found in tidepools.
• Pacific Mole (Sand) Crab - Emerita analoga
  Found in sand, they feed in the area of breaking waves.
• Flat Porcelain Crab - Petrolisthes cinctipes
  Tiny in size and found in tidepools.
• Shield-backed Kelp Crab - Pugettia producta
• Spiny King Crab - Paralithodes rathbuni
  Found on the deep seafloor.
• Tuberculate Pear (Spider) Crab - Pyromaia tuberculata
• European Green Crab - Carcinus maenas (Introduced)
• Chinese Mitten Crab - Eriocheir sinensis (Introduced)
• Sharp-nosed Crab - Scyra acutifrons
• Blackclaw Crestleg Crab - Lophopanopeus bellus

• The native Red Rock Crab preys on invasive species like the European Green Crab.

• California Crabs by Ken Jones, written from a fisherman's point of view. Includes photos.  ...link 
• Identification of Cancroid Crabs, California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Five common California species.  ...link