Variation in the colors and patterns of crabs.

Shore crabs are highly variable in appearance, as demonstrated by the diversity of crabs in this image with the majority of them here collected from just one site (Falmouth). Crabs in the two right columns are mainly juveniles of sizes below approximately 10–15 mm carapace width, whereas crabs on the left three columns are individuals greater than 15 mm carapace width. Note that the crabs in this image show the range and extremity of forms that occur, rather than being representative of the most common phenotypes at any given site.