Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne-Edwards, 1853

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 264-265

Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne-Edwards, 1853

( Fig. 61B)

Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne-Edwards, 1853: 177 ; 1854: 146, pl. IX, fig. 1. — Ingle 1980:123, fig. 76, pl. 24b (extensive synonymy). — Cohen & Carlton 1995: 95; 1997: 1. — Debelius 1999: 96. — Clark 2006: 17 (Discussion of the correct date of publication of the original species description). — Gollasch 2006: 1, figs. 1–3. — Kuris et al. 2007: 641.

Diagnosis (after Ingle 1980). Carapace slightly broader than long. Frontal region with pair prominently bifid, acute, submedian lobes, pair tuberculate dorsal carinae. Anterolateral margin of carapace with 3 well-developed teeth, posterolateral margin with single small tooth, lateral margins slightly convex, divergent distally. Chelipeds robust, dorsal surface tuberculate, outer face of chela with dense setae extending onto proximal part of dactylus, carpus with long spine. Pereopods 2–5 moderately stout, margins of carpus to dactylus setose. Female with chelipeds slightly smaller than those of male. Carapace length to 62 mm.

Color in life. Dorsal surface of carapace grayish-green, pereopods lighter ( Ingle 1980).

Habitat and depth. Estuarine, ranging into freshwater at mouths of rivers, shallow.

Range. Native range eastern Asia from Vladivostok to South China, especially China Sea. Introduced into Great Britain, almost all of the Baltic Sea and North Sea, northeastern Atlantic to Mediterranean Sea, Netherlands, Rhine and Seine River drainages in Europe ( Ingle 1980, Noel 1992, Gollasch 2006); San Francisco Bay drainage. Sporadic reports from Volga River, Russia; Great Lakes region, U.S.A. Chesapeake Bay, Hudson River, Mississippi River Delta ( Gollasch 2006). Type locality "coast of China.”

Remarks. This crab is a nuisance, damaging riverbanks and levees by burrowing, competing with native species and serving as an intermediate host of the human liver fluke. Consult on-line databases of introduced marine species for the latest area in which this crab has been reported.