---
title: "Spiny Spider Crab"
description: "Maja brachydactyla — Altri animali. Maja brachydactyla is a species of crab in the family Majidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/spiny-spider-crab
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Spiny Spider Crab

> Maja brachydactyla — Altri animali. Maja brachydactyla is a species of crab in the family Majidae.

- Scientific name: *Maja brachydactyla*
- Category: `other` (Altri animali)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mare e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 3391
- Wikidata: [Q1885533](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1885533)
- iNaturalist taxon: [447552](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/447552)

## Names

- en: Spiny Spider Crab
- es: Centollo
- fr: Araignée de mer atlantique

## Countries with the most observations

GB (1406), FR (841), ES (216), IE (210), PT (198), JE (31), GG (22), MA (16), BE (6), EH (4)

## Summary

Maja brachydactyla is a species of crab in the family Majidae. It was initially described as a subspecies of M. squinado. A review of the species complex published in 1998 was able to differentiate between specimens from the Mediterranean Sea and those from the Atlantic Ocean, and concluded that the Atlantic specimens were a separate species, accepted as M. brachydactyla Balss, 1922.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maja_brachydactyla

## Photo

![Spiny Spider Crab](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/spiny-spider-crab/medium.jpg)

Photo: Nick Blewden · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/55610877

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/spiny-spider-crab?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).