Platypodiella spectabilis

Platypodiella spectabilis, the gaudy clown crab, is a species of crab in the family Xanthidae.^[1]

Video of gaudy clown crab behaviour
Gaudy Clown Crab - East End, Grand Cayman

Platypodiella spectabilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Xanthidae
Genus:	Platypodiella
Species:	P. spectabilis
Binomial name
Platypodiella spectabilis (Herbst, 1794)
Synonyms
Cancer lobata H. Milne Edwards, 1834 Cancer spectabilis Herbst, 1794

Habitat

Crabs of the genus Platypodiella are well known to live in close association with zoanthid corals, especially preferring corals of the genus Palythoa. They dig holes in the corals to live in and occupy crevasses around dead coral. Gaudy clown crabs have additionally been recorded creating similar holes in sponges, specifically Niphates digitalis at a site in Statia (Sint Eustatius) in the Lesser Antilles.^[2]