(Linnaeus, 1758)
Description:
Carapace sub-triangular, dorsal surface with scattered tubercles, frontal region produced as a bifid rostrum, each half distally converging; postorbital teeth large and flattened but not expanded laterally; second and third peduncular segments of antenna narrowing anteriorly. Chelipeds equal in size and stout; second to fifth pereiopods thin and sub-cylindrical, second the longest, male cheliped propodus swollen.
Size:
Carapace length up to 50 (105) mm.
Habitat:
Depth range from intertidal region to beyond 80 metres. Ovigerous throughout year; larvae March-July.
Colour:
Carapace and pereiopods reddish brown.
Distribution:
Shetland, Orkney, Moray Firth, Firth of Forth, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Wash, Thames, East Channel, Wight, Portland, Channel Isles, Plymouth, Liverpool Bay, Isle of Man, Dublin, Belfast, Clyde & Argyll, Donegal Bay, Mayo, Galway Bay, Fastnet, Cork.