#4443 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Edible Crab
🇳🇱 Noordzeekrab ·Cancer pagurus
🦀 Crabs & other crustaceans 📍 in the Netherlands
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
Cancer pagurus , commonly known as the edible crab or brown crab , is a species of crab found in the North Sea, North Atlantic Ocean and perhaps in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a robust crab of a reddish-brown colour, having an oval carapace with a characteristic "pie crust" edge and black tips to the claws. 6 lb). C. pagurus ...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 367 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #8 most seen of the crabs & other crustaceans in NL.
- 5,769 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Edible Crab
- Nederlands
- Noordzeekrab
- scientific name
- Cancer pagurus
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Decapoda
- family
- Cancridae
- sightings in NL
- 367
- sightings in Europe
- 5,454
- sightings worldwide
- 5,769
- GBIF records in NL
- 48,602
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
relatives· Cancridae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 120553, Wikidata Q752188, GBIF 2222085, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.