European Green Crab
Carcinus maenas
Animalia
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 5-7 yrs
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Activity
- Nocturnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate coast
- Range
- Europe
- Movement
- Walking
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Armor
- Status
- Common
About
A small but tenacious crab native to European and North African coasts that has become one of the world's most successful marine invasives, now established on six continents. It can tolerate salinities from near-freshwater to hypersaline and temperatures from 0 to 33 °C, allowing it to outcompete native species in almost any intertidal habitat it enters.
Life cycle
- 1.juvenileA juvenile crustacean takes adult form after its larval phase, growing in stages between molts.
- 2.adultFully grown at adult size and full hard shell.
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Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Malacostraca
- Order
- Decapoda
- Family
- Carcinidae
- Genus
- Carcinus
- Species
- Carcinus maenas