Velvet crab

Description

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The velvet crab
(alternatively velvet swimming crab or devil crab) is the largest
swimming crab found in British coastal waters, with a carapace width of
up to 100 mm. The body is coated with short hairs, giving the animal a
velvety texture, hence the common name. Their red eyes gave rise to the
name, „devil crab“, sometimes „witch crab“. It is one of the major crab
species for UK fisheries. The velvet crab lives from southern Norway to
Western Sahara in the North Sea and north Atlantic as well as western
parts of the Mediterranean Sea, on rocky bottoms from the shoreline to a
depth of about 65 m. The last pair of pereiopods are flattened to
facilitate swimming.