Cancer bellianus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Family: | Cancridae |
Genus: | Cancer |
Species: | C. bellianus
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Binomial name | |
Cancer bellianus Johnson, 1861[1]
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Cancer bellianus, the toothed rock crab, is a common species of crab in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean.
It grows up to 130 millimetres (5.1 in) in carapace length, and is pale brown with red spots.[2]
Its geographical range extends from near Höfn on the south coast of Iceland (at nearly 64° N) south to Morocco, including the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.[3] It is found at depths from 50 metres (160 ft) to over 730 m (2,400 ft).[4] While the species is sometimes abundant in the south of its range, it is uncommon further north; all the specimens from Brittany and further north were male, and are thought to be recent travellers from further south, rather than representing a stable northern population.[5]
C. bellianus is caught as bycatch by artisan fishermen targeting Palinurus elephas, and as much as 10 t can be caught annually.[3]