File:Carcinus_maenas.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Carcinus maenas
Sign in to saveAlso known as Common shore crab, shore crabs, European green crab, European shore crab
crab
OverviewAI-generated
*Carcinus maenas*, commonly known as the common shore crab or European Green Crab, is a species within the family Carcinidae. It belongs to the order Decapoda, class Malacostraca, and phylum Arthropoda in the kingdom Animalia. The species was described by Linnaeus in 1758 and is currently accepted as a valid taxon. It serves as a model organism and inhabits marine and brackish environments.
Records of *Carcinus maenas* have been documented in Canada, Belgium, France, Ireland, and the United States. The species is noted as invasive to Australia. Various databases hold occurrence records for this crab, with one source listing 253,790 occurrences and another noting 38,599 observations. Additional records are held by institutions including CMN and RBINS-SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE.
Synthesized by Vinony from 37 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
common shore crab
SPECIES
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassMalacostraca
- OrderDecapoda
- FamilyCarcinidae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 1,691
- With media
- 271
- Family
- Portunidae
- Collections
- CMN, RBINS-SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE
- Recorded in
- Canada, Belgium, France, Ireland, United States
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A large male C. maenas, on top of a 5-gallon bucket for scale Two female C. maenas: Despite the possibly misleading common name, European green crabs are not only green. The underside of their carapace can range from green to yellow to orange to red. The best way to identify them is through other characteristics, such as the five spines on either side of their eyes, with three in between them.
Carcinus maenas is a common littoral crab. It is known by different names around the world. In the British Isles, it is generally referred to as the shore crab or green shore crab. In North America and South Africa, it bears the name European green crab. The European Green Crab is native to Europe and North Africa.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Carcinus maenas” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.