Sally Lightfoot crab
Grapsus grapsus · The Sally Lightfoot crab is a common rock-dwelling crab found along the Pacific coast of the Americas, including the Galápagos Islands.
Also called Sally Lightfoot, Red rock crab.
,_Las_Bachas,_isla_Santa_Cruz,_islas_Gal%C3%A1pagos,_Ecuador,_2015-07-23,_DD_30.jpg){kind=link}
,_Punta_Pitt,_isla_de_San_Crist%C3%B3bal,_islas_Gal%C3%A1pagos,_Ecuador,_2015-07-24,_DD_79.JPG){kind=link}
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Malacostraca |
| Order | Decapoda |
| Family | Grapsidae |
| Genus | Grapsus |
| Species | Grapsus grapsus |
Where it lives
Rocky shores of the Pacific coast from Mexico to Chile, and the Galápagos.
Fun facts
- Young Sally Lightfoot crabs are black or dark brown, which hides them well against the black lava coasts of volcanic islands.
- These crabs have been seen acting as cleaners, picking ticks off marine iguanas in the Galápagos Islands.
- Mostly an algae eater, this crab will also sample bird eggs, bat guano, young sea turtles and even other crabs.
- It is an agile leaper, which makes it hard to catch.
Play it
The Sally Lightfoot crab was the creature in a regional daily on November 11, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.
Play today's creature or replay a past daily
Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).