Description
The edible crab is too slow to catch quick prey and feeds mainly on shells, starfish and dead animals. These animals do not resist low water temperatures and during the winter they will move to deeper water, further from the coast. Females will mate for the first time at an age of 5 or 6 years. Like many other crab species, they can only mate after moulting when the new shell is still soft. The male acts as a gentleman and will help the female out of her old 'coat'. This crab is of commercial interest for the fishing industry.

Size
The carapace can reach a width of 300 mm. Species with a carapace width of 200mm, are about 10 years old.

Colour
The top side of the carapace is reddish brown with lighter spots and has a typical lobed margin. The bottom side is beige to white and the tip of the claws are dark brown to black.

Habitat
They occur in both hard and soft substrata where they can hide between rocks or burry in the sand. The can be found from the tidal zone till 300 meters depth.

Distribution
North-eastern Atlantic from Norway till West Africa and the Mediterranean sea.