Cancer Pagurus

Cancer pagurus, commonly called the edible crab or brown crab, is a crab species first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in the family Cancridae. It lives in the North Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean, and possibly the Mediterranean Sea, on mixed seabeds from shallow water down to about 100 meters, with a reddish-brown carapace edged in nine rounded lobes resembling a pie crust, black-tipped claws, and a robust build; mature individuals can reach 25 centimeters across the carapace and weigh up to 3 kilograms. A nocturnal predator of mollusks and crustaceans that is itself preyed on chiefly by octopuses, it is the basis of the largest crab fishery in western Europe, centered on the coasts of Ireland and Britain, landing more than 60,000 tonnes a year.