Cancer pagurus (edible crab)
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Phylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Atelecyclidae
Cancer pagurus is the most commercially important of all western European decapods. Mature adults can have a carapace width of more than 250mm, can weigh several kilograms and have a potential lifespan of more than 20 years. C.pagurus is readily identifiable with its oval carapace fringed with indentations that make it look like a pie crust. The pincers, or chelae, are large and black tipped, slightly smaller in the females. C.pagurus lives on coarse and muddy sand bottoms down to about 100m.
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