#4540 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Dungeness Crab
Metacarcinus magister
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Neil McDaniel · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Lisa Zhang · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © Elijah Okeefe · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Em Lim · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Jeff Goddard · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Erica · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Tom Field · CC BY 4.0
- 8. © Olivia Cornies · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Josh Houston · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Wendy Feltham · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The Dungeness crab , Metacarcinus magister (the naming convention recognized by WoRMS) or Cancer magister (the naming convention recognized by ITIS), is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. 9 in) across the carapace and is a popular seafood prized for its sweet and tender flesh. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington.
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
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 16,219 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by James Dwight Dana in 1852 (174 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Dungeness Crab
- scientific name
- Metacarcinus magister
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Decapoda
- family
- Cancridae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 16,219
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1852 by James Dwight Dana
relatives· Cancridae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 63697, Wikidata Q1936093, GBIF 5863764, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.