(Stord - Hordaland / 6 meters / 2.18.2004)

Back Up Next

Distribution: Galathea nexa is quite common all along the coast, but you usually need to dive deeper than 15 meters to encounter it. It prefers sand or rocky substrate. I have often seen it sitting on a dead mans finger, scouting for food passing by.

Characteristics: The male does not grow bigger than 4 cm in length, the female may reach 3 cm. It totally lacks the blue stripes of the G. strigosa, but it could be confused with the G. dispersa. G. nexa has more hair on the first pair of legs and wider rostrum (horn in the forehead). The first pair of legs have distinct spikes on the second joint. G. nexa and G. dispersa were long considered to be the same species.

All pictures:

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Crustacea

Subclass: Malacostraca

Order: Decapoda

Suborder: Pleocyemata

Infraorder: Anomura

Family: Galatheidae

Scientific name: Galathea nexa

 

Norwegian: dverghummer