Scientific name:

Calidris alpina

About:

The typical crab, with a broad body up to 25cm across. A pale orangey-brown in colour, paler underneath, with black tips to the front pair of pincers. Lives amongst seaweed and rocks, feeding on smaller animals and detritus.

How to identify:

<p>Easily recognised by the combination of its large size and colour.</p>

Where:

Found all round our shores.

Fantastic facts:

10,000 tonnes of edible crab are harvested from the English Channel every year. That’s a lot of crab sandwiches!