Crabs of the British Isles
Largest and smallest crabs of the British Isles
Pinnotheres pisum
(up to 4 mm across the carapace)Around 65 species of
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.
Fisheries
Commercial crabs in the British Isles
Necora puber
, is landed in the British Isles every year.Several species of wild crab are the subject of
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.[Note 2]
Species
62 species have been directly observed in the waters of the British Isles:[1][Note 3]
- Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Paromola cuvieri (Risso, 1816)
- Ebalia cranchii Leach, 1817
- Ebalia granulosa H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
- Ebalia nux A. Milne-Edwards, 1883
- Ebalia tuberosa (Pennant, 1777)
- Ebalia tumefacta (Montagu, 1808)
- Maja brachydactyla Balss, 1922
- Eurynome aspera (Pennant, 1777)
- Eurynome spinosa Hailstone, 1835
- Hyas araneus(Linnaeus, 1758)
- Hyas coarctatus Leach, 1815
- 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)
- Pisa armata (Latreille, 1803)
- Pisa tetraodon (Pennant, 1777)
- Parthenopides massena (Roux, 1830)
- Corystes cassivelaunus(Pennant, 1777)
- Atelecyclus rotundatus (Olivi, 1792)
- Atelecyclus undecimdentatus (Herbst, 1783)
- Thia scutellata(Fabricius, 1793)
- Pirimelidae
- Pirimela denticulata(Montagu, 1808)
- Cancer bellianus Johnson, 1861
- Cancer pagurus Linnaeus, 1758
- 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)
- Geryon trispinosus (Herbst, 1803)
- Goneplax rhomboides (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Monodaeus couchi (Couch, 1851)
- Xantho hydrophilus (Herbst, 1790)
- Xantho pilipes A. Milne-Edwards, 1867
- Dyspanopeus sayi (S. I. Smith, 1869)
- Rhithropanopeus harrisii(Gould, 1841)
- Pilumnoides inglei Guinot & Macpherson, 1987
- Pilumnidae
- Pilumnus hirtellus (Linnaeus, 1761)
- Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Fabricius, 1787)
- Planes minutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Brachynotus sexdentatus (Risso, 1827)
- Eriocheir sinensisH. Milne-Edwards, 1853
- Asthenognathus atlanticus Monod, 1933
- 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:[1]
- Cymonomus granulatus (Norman in Wyville Thomson, 1873) (Cymonomidae)
- Dorhynchus thomsoni Wyville Thomson, 1873 (Inachidae)
- Rochinia carpenteri (Wyville Thomson, 1873) (Epialtidae)
Notes
- isobath surrounding the British Isles, between 48 °N and 62.5 °N, and between 13 °W and 6 °E; this includes the English Channel and parts of the North Sea coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands, but excludes the Faroe Islands.[2]
- ^ Fishery data is for the year 2009, and is taken from the FAO's online database, summing the captures for the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Ireland and the United Kingdom.[5]
- Nomenclature follows Ng et al. (2009).[6]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-948150-06-7.
- ISBN 978-0-948150-06-7.
- ^ Michael McCarthy (April 22, 2010). "Britain's biggest crab emerges from the deep". The Independent. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ Mike Thurston (1987). "Record breaking crab is not such a strange catch". New Scientist. 114 (1554): 24.
- ^ "Global Capture Production 1950–2009". Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-06-06.