Crabs of the British Isles

Around 65 species of crab occur in the waters of the British Isles. 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, which can reach a claw span of 1.2 m, to the pea crab, which is only 4 mm wide and lives inside mussel shells.

Fisheries
Several species of wild crab are the subject of crab fisheries around the coasts of the British Isles. The most important are the brown crab or edible crab, Cancer pagurus (29,193 t), various swimming crabs (3,180 t), the spider crab Maja brachydactyla (1,565 t), the shore crab or green crab Carcinus maenas (553 t) and the velvet crab Necora puber (193 t). Around 77% of the catch is landed in the United Kingdom, 19% in Ireland, 4% in the Channel Islands, and 1% in the Isle of Man.

Species
62 species have been directly observed in the waters of the British Isles:


 * Dromiidae
 * Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Homolidae
 * Paromola cuvieri (Risso, 1816)


 * Leucosiidae
 * Ebalia cranchii Leach, 1817
 * Ebalia granulosa H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
 * Ebalia nux A. Milne-Edwards, 1883
 * Ebalia tuberosa (Pennant, 1777)
 * Ebalia tumefacta (Montagu, 1808)
 * Majidae
 * Maja brachydactyla Balss, 1922
 * Eurynome aspera (Pennant, 1777)
 * Eurynome spinosa Hailstone, 1835
 * Oregoniidae
 * Hyas araneus (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Hyas coarctatus Leach, 1815
 * Inachidae
 * Achaeus cranchii Leach, 1817
 * Inachus dorsettensis (Pennant, 1777)
 * Inachus leptochirus Leach, 1817
 * Inachus phalangium (Fabricius, 1775)
 * Macropodia deflexa Forest, 1978
 * Macropodia linaresi Forest & Zariquiey Alvarez, 1964
 * Macropodia rostrata (Linnaeus, 1761)
 * Macropoda tenuirostris (Leach, 1814)
 * Epialtidae
 * Pisa armata (Latreille, 1803)
 * Pisa tetraodon (Pennant, 1777)
 * Parthenopidae
 * Parthenopides massena (Roux, 1830)
 * Corystidae
 * Corystes cassivelaunus (Pennant, 1777)
 * Atelecyclidae
 * Atelecyclus rotundatus (Olivi, 1792)
 * Atelecyclus undecimdentatus (Herbst, 1783)
 * Thiidae
 * Thia scutellata (Fabricius, 1793)
 * Pirimelidae
 * Pirimela denticulata (Montagu, 1808)
 * Cancridae
 * Cancer bellianus Johnson, 1861
 * Cancer pagurus Linnaeus, 1758
 * Portunidae
 * Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896
 * Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Bathynectes longipes (Risso, 1816)
 * Bathynectes maravigna (Prestandrea, 1839)
 * Liocarcinus corrugatus (Pennant, 1777)
 * Liocarcinus depurator (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Liocarcinus holsatus (Fabricius, 1798)
 * Liocarcinus marmoreus (Leach, 1814)
 * Liocarcinus navigator (Herbst, 1794)
 * Liocarcinus pusillus (Leach, 1815)
 * Liocarcinus zariquieyi Gordon, 1968
 * Macropipus tuberculatus (Roux, 1830)
 * Necora puber (Linnaeus, 1767)
 * Polybius henslowii Leach, 1820
 * Portumnus latipes (Pennant, 1777)
 * Xaiva biguttata (Risso, 1816)
 * Geryonidae
 * Geryon trispinosus (Herbst, 1803)
 * Goneplacidae
 * Goneplax rhomboides (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Xanthidae
 * Monodaeus couchi (Couch, 1851)
 * Xantho hydrophilus (Herbst, 1790)
 * Xantho pilipes A. Milne-Edwards, 1867
 * Panopeidae
 * Dyspanopeus sayi (S. I. Smith, 1869)
 * Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould, 1841)
 * Pilumnoididae
 * Pilumnoides inglei Guinot & Macpherson, 1987
 * Pilumnidae
 * Pilumnus hirtellus (Linnaeus, 1761)


 * Grapsidae
 * Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Fabricius, 1787)
 * Planes minutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Varunidae
 * Brachynotus sexdentatus (Risso, 1827)
 * Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne-Edwards, 1853
 * Asthenognathus atlanticus Monod, 1933
 * Pinnotheridae
 * Nepinnotheres pinnotheres (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Pinnotheres pisum (Linnaeus, 1767)

Three deep-water species have also been recorded near the British Isles, and are likely to occur in the area. These are:
 * Cymonomus granulatus (Norman in Wyville Thomson, 1873) (Cymonomidae)
 * Dorhynchus thomsoni Wyville Thomson, 1873 (Inachidae)
 * Rochinia carpenteri (Wyville Thomson, 1873) (Epialtidae)