---
title: Feather Star Squat Lobster (Allogalathea elegans)
scientific_name: Allogalathea elegans
common_name: Feather Star Squat Lobster
taxon: Squat lobsters
published: 2024-01-02T16:54:41.128Z
updated: 2026-08-07T21:02:43.502Z
tags: Feather Star Squat Lobster, Allogalathea elegans, Squat lobsters, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/crustaceans/squat-lobsters/feather-star-squat-lobster
---

# Feather Star Squat Lobster (*Allogalathea elegans*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Squat lobsters (*Galatheidae*)
- **Size:** 2 cm
- **Depth:** 1-146 m
- **Diet:** Filter feeder
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Uncommon
- **Habitat:** On feather stars, matching the host's colour

## How to recognise it

- tiny, under 2 cm, living among the arms of a feather star
- colour and striping match the host crinoid
- long slender claws held forward
- flattened body that slips between the arms

Allogalathea elegans, known as the feather star squat lobster, crinoid squat lobster, or elegant squat lobster, has a droplet-shaped cephalothorax and a dorsally flattened, elongated, triangular rostrum positioned on each side of its stalked eyes. Its first pair of legs, the chelipeds, bear pincers and extend longer than the body, while the last pair of legs is reduced. The body and legs are covered with small hairs. Females are typically larger, but individuals never exceed 2 cm (0.8 in) in total length. Colouration is highly variable, ranging from dark red, blackish-purple, orange, to brown, often marked with longitudinal stripes of differing thickness and tint. Despite its common name, this species is more closely related to hermit crabs than to true lobsters.

This squat lobster lives in commensal association with crinoids, particularly feather stars, from which it gains protection against predators such as fish and access to an ideal feeding substrate. While capable of living independently, individuals lacking a host typically experience a shorter lifespan due to increased predator exposure. It occurs from the surface to depths of 146 m (479 ft). Allogalathea elegans is a planktotrophic feeder, strategically benefiting from its crinoid host, which shares the same diet and positions itself to filter plankton optimally. Individuals may be found solitary or in large aggregations, always in close proximity to or directly on crinoids. It is widespread in the Indo-Pacific, with its range extending from eastern Africa to the Fiji Islands, and from Japan to southern Australia.

Reproduction involves precopulatory rituals that employ various sensory cues. Females are multiple spawners, typically undergoing three or four reproductive cycles during a breeding season, with synchronized gonadal development and breeding. Eggs hatch into larvae, which pass through four zoeal stages lasting a total of 13 to 16 days. The subsequent megalopal stage closely resembles a smaller adult before individuals mature.

## Also known as

- **English:** Elegant Squat Lobster
- **French:** Galathée des comatules, Galathée des crinoïdes, Galathée élégante
- **Spanish:** Langosta en cuclillas elegante
- **Japanese:** コマチコシオリエビ
- **Chinese:** 美麗異鎧蝦
- **Russian:** Изящная галатея
- **KO:** 긴이마새우붙이

## Scientific synonyms

- *Galathea deflexifrons* Haswell, 1882
- *Galathea elegans* Adams, 1847
- *Galathea grandirostris* Stimpson, 1858
- *Galathea longirostris* Dana, 1852

## Range

East China Sea, Indian Ocean, Mascarene Islands, New Caledonian Exclusive Economic Zone, New Zealand

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/crustaceans/squat-lobsters/feather-star-squat-lobster)*
*Updated: August 7, 2026*