Crabs of the British Isles

Largest and smallest crabs of the British Isles
Paromola cuvieri (up to 120 cm claw span)
Pinnotheres pisum (up to 4 mm across the carapace)

Around 65 species of crab occur in the waters of the British Isles.[1][Note 1] All are marine, with the exception of the introduced Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, which occurs in fresh and brackish water. They range in size from the deep-water species Paromola cuvieri,[3] which can reach a claw span of 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in),[4] to the pea crab, which is only 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and lives inside mussel shells.

  1. ^ J. M. C. Holmes; M. J. Costello & D. W. Connor (1997). "Crustacea". In Christine M. Howson & Bernard E. Picton (eds.). The Species Directory of the Marine Fauna and Flora of the British Isles and Surrounding Seas (PDF). Ulster Museum and the Marine Conservation Society. pp. 142–209. ISBN 978-0-948150-06-7.
  2. ^ Christine M. Howson & Bernard E. Picton, eds. (1997). "Introduction". The Species Directory of the Marine Fauna and Flora of the British Isles and Surrounding Seas (PDF). Ulster Museum and the Marine Conservation Society. pp. 5–8. ISBN 978-0-948150-06-7.
  3. ^ Michael McCarthy (April 22, 2010). "Britain's biggest crab emerges from the deep". The Independent. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  4. ^ Mike Thurston (1987). "Record breaking crab is not such a strange catch". New Scientist. 114 (1554): 24.


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