#4499 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Crab-hacker barnacle
🇳🇱 Krabbenzakje ·Sacculina carcini
📍 France
📍 Esteiro do Ancão, Almancil, Algarve, PT
📍 Le Hocq
📍 Oosterschelde, Zeeuwse meren, 158_13_400, NL
📍 Jacobahaven, 4675 RB Netherlands
📍 Comarca de Pontevedra, Pontevedra, España
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Valentin de Mazancourt · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Lou Valence · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Maëlan ADAM · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Nataël Adam · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. France:© Christine Rampon · CC BY 4.0
- 6. Esteiro do Ancão, Almancil, Algarve, PT:© rafael_kulzer · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Le Hocq:© Chris Isaacs · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Oosterschelde, Zeeuwse meren, 158_13_400, NL:© dr. Werner de Gier · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Jacobahaven, 4675 RB Netherlands:© dr. Werner de Gier · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Comarca de Pontevedra, Pontevedra, España:© Javier Sánchez Álvarez · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
Sacculina carcini , the crab hacker barnacle , is a species of parasitic barnacle in the family Sacculinidae, in particular a parasitic castrator, of crabs. The crab that most often is used as a host is the green crab, the natural range of which is the coasts of Western Europe and North Africa. It can be found attached to the crab's abdomen and affect consumption rates by humans.
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 5 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 129 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by John Vaughan Thompson in 1836 (190 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Crab-hacker barnacle
- Nederlands
- Krabbenzakje
- scientific name
- Sacculina carcini
- class
- Hexanauplia
- family
- Sacculinidae
- sightings in NL
- 5
- sightings in Europe
- 110
- sightings worldwide
- 129
- GBIF records in NL
- 269
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1836 by John Vaughan Thompson
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 210286, Wikidata Q3133742, GBIF 5166612, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.