Chionoecetes opilio, a species of snow crab also known as the opilio crab or opies, is a predominantly epifaunal crustacean native to shelf depths of the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the north Pacific Ocean. It is an important commercial species, caught by traps and trawling, and belongs to the genus Chionoecetes, whose seven species all share the common name snow crab, including the closely related Chionoecetes bairdi, known as the tanner crab.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to People Relationship to PeopleInvasive or Introduced Species 1 Partially Attested
Population EstimateFigure is a reported count for the population that fell from about eight billion in 2018 to one billion in 2021 (Bering Sea, per the surrounding text); it is not a global estimate. Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceIridescent, brown to light red on top and yellow to white on the bottom 1 Scientific Name Connections
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Canada, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Norway, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Chionoecetes opilio
Lead, sentence 1
Chionoecetes opilio, a species of snow crab
Commercial importance
It shrank from about eight billion in 2018 to one billion animals in 2021.
Anatomy
Snow crabs are iridescent and range in color from brown to light red on top and from yellow to white on the bottom.
article text (relationship to people), EntityId 295840
They are considered an invasive species there, but how they arrived there is unclear.
View the Source2. GBIF Species API
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Wikidata: Snow Crab
- Wikidata Q798471, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Child Taxon Of: Decapoda, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.