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Spiny spider crab

The spiny spider crab lives up to its name in every way! Their distinctive spiny shells are often found washed up on beaches.

Scientific name

Maja brachydactyla

When to see

January to December

Species information

Category

Statistics

Body: Up to 20cm long

Conservation status

Common

Habitats

About

The spiny spider crab is also known as the European spider crab. It is a large, orange crab with long spindly legs like a spider and a distinctive spiny shell. Their oval shells are often covered in algae, giving them a green hairy look! They're not particularly picky eaters and will feed on seaweed, mussels, starfish and well, anything else they can get their claws on!

How to identify

A large orange crab with long, spindly legs like a spider. They have an oval, spiky shell that is often covered in algae. They are larger than great spider crabs, which have a pear-shaped shell.

Distribution

Common on South and West coasts of England and Wales; absent from North Sea, Scotland and Northern England.

Did you know?

Spider crabs undertake an annual migration into deeper waters in Autumn, sometimes travelling over 100 miles in total on their outwards and return journeys.