#4446 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Masked crab
🇳🇱 Helmkrab ·Corystes cassivelaunus
📍 9164 Buren, Netherlands
📍 1951 Velsen-Noord, Netherlands
📍 Ameland, NL-FR, NL
📍 9162 Ballum, Netherlands
📍 9163 Nes, Netherlands
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Bernard Picton · CC BY 4.0
- 2. © Bernard Picton · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © Bernard Picton · CC BY 4.0
- 4. © Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Pierre Corbrion · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 6. 9164 Buren, Netherlands:© Max Willems · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. 1951 Velsen-Noord, Netherlands:© Miisa Tavaststjerna · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Ameland, NL-FR, NL:© Max Willems · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. 9162 Ballum, Netherlands:© Max Willems · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. 9163 Nes, Netherlands:© Max Willems · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Corystes cassivelaunus , the masked crab , helmet crab or sand crab , is a burrowing crab of the North Atlantic and North Sea from Portugal to Norway, which also occurs in the Mediterranean Sea. 6 inches long (carapace length). The name "masked crab" derives from the patterns on the carapace which resemble a human face, in a similar manner to heikegani . It is the only species in the genus Corystes .
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 263 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #11 most seen of the crabs & other crustaceans in NL.
- 1,041 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Thomas Pennant in 1777 (249 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Masked crab
- Nederlands
- Helmkrab
- scientific name
- Corystes cassivelaunus
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Decapoda
- family
- Corystidae
- sightings in NL
- 263
- sightings in Europe
- 1,012
- sightings worldwide
- 1,041
- GBIF records in NL
- 46,126
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1777 by Thomas Pennant
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 549751, Wikidata Q2710027, GBIF 5716132, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.