Pacific Lyre Crab, Hyas lyratus
![[Pacific Lyre Crab, Hyas lyratus, crabhlyrat.jpg=67KB]](../images/photo/crabhlyrat.jpg)
The Pacific lyre crab, Hyas lyratus, in the family
Oregoniidae, is named for its shape. They range from the Chukchi (Sparks and
Pereyra, 1966) and Bering Seas to Puget
Sound, Washington. Males (80 mm) are larger than females (46 mm). They are
found on mixed bottom types from 9 to 640 m. Their carapace is often
covered with a growth of barnacles and other invertebrates. During a 1991
Delta submarine dive in Kodiak Island's Chiniak Bay, Alaska, a mating
aggregation of approximately 2,000 crab, including 200 "grasping
pairs," was first described for this species by Stevens et al.(1992).
Scientific name: Greek hyas (daughters of Atlas) and
lyratus (lyre like).
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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