''Pugettia gracilis'', commonly known as the graceful kelp crab, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of small crab in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Epialtidae Epialtidae is a family of crabs, containing the subfamilies: * Epialtinae MacLeay, 1838 * Pisinae Dana, 1851 * Pliosomatinae Števčić, 1994 * Tychinae Dana, 1851 * Actinotocarcininae References Majoidea Decapod families {{c ...

. It lives among forests of kelp on the Pacific coast of North America.

Description

The carapace (shell) of this small crab is slightly longer than it is wide and grows to a width of in males and in females. The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

(the part of the carapace in front of the eyes) has two flattened projections which spread apart. The margin of the carapace has a pair of large teeth on either side of the rostrum and another, more flattened pair, slightly further back. The carapace is scattered with small tubercles. The legs are long and bear spines which may help the crab cling onto the kelp. The colour of this crab varies, usually being brown, red or yellow, but sometimes being orange, pink, white or blue. The

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...

(claws) have blue extremities, with red, orange or white tips, and the walking legs often have pale bands.

Distribution and habitat

''Pugettia gracilis'' is native to the west coast of North America, its range extending from the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

, off the coast of Alaska, to

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

in California. Its typical habitat is among the fronds of

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwa ...

, or among the stems of

eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Zostera'', marine eelgrass * ''Vallisneria'', freshwater eelgrass {{Short pages monitor