Epibiont communities of the two spider crabs Schizophrys aspera (H. Milne Edwards, 1834) and Hyastenus hilgendorfi (De Man, 1887) in Great Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal, Egypt.

The epibiont communities of the two spider crabs Schizophrys aspera and Hyastenus hilgendorfi in Great Bitter Lakes were studied during spring and summer of 2011. A sum of six taxa including twelve species of epibionts was recorded on each of the two investigated crabs. Most of the epibionts were including Protozoa, Hydrozoa, Polychaeta, Cirripedia, Bryozoa and tunicates. Generally, Cirripedia and Polychaeta dominated the other epibiont species on the two investigated spider crabs. Barnacles were the most widespread species on the four examined parts of Schizophrys aspera, whereas the abdomen of Hyastenus hilgendorfi was commonly covered with polychaetes, followed by barnacles while tunicates were dominating on mouth parts, carapace and limbs. Abundance of epibionts increased as the crab size increased.