Velvet Swimming Crab

• GeneralIt has red eyes and its last pair of legs flattened into paddles for swimming.
• It is called the velvet crab for the fine down covering its carapace, but its other nickname, devil crab, comes from its bright red eyes and its temper: it rears up and defends itself with its claws rather than fleeing.
• The last pair of legs is flattened into paddles, which lets it swim fast, unlike most bottom-dwelling crabs.
• It is the largest swimming crab in British waters.
• The Scottish fishery grew after the Spanish one declined in the 1980s.
• Ocean acidification is a concern because of its effect on the species' exoskeleton.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - articulated calcareous exoskeleton (crustacean)

Habitat and environment

Weedy rocky bottoms of the shore and down to 70 m

Sexual maturity

Between one and one and a half years old, at 4 or 5 cm

Litter / clutch size

Between 5,000 and 278,000 eggs per female in Scottish populations

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necora_puber