Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab)

Found in area of mussel beds under moderate sized rocks.

At the Cove they can be found under rocks, in tide pools, and roaming the mussel beds. Hemigrapsus oregonesis has hairy walking legs and hair on the inside of its claws. Hemigrapsus nudus has red spots on its claws and no obvious hair on its legs or inside of its claws.

When overturning rocks to hunt for them it is proper to turn the rock back where it was resting so that barnacles on rocks aren’t killed.