Ranging from Atka in the Aleutian Islands to Puget Sound, Washington, the hairy crab, Hapalogaster mertensii, is in the family Lithodidae. A small crab, carapace length to 35 mm (1.4 in), it prefers to be under small, loose algae-covered rocks from low intertidal to 55 m.

Scientific name: Greek hapal (soft, tender) and gaster (belly, stomach).

Digital photo by Jan Haaga. References (a complete list) in the text include: Jensen (1995), Williams et al. (1988), Barr (1983), or Hart (1982).

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