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Hemigrapsus sanguineus - Japanese shore crab

Current distribution Hemigrapsus sanguineus (De Haan, 1835) (320 OBIS-datapoints, 8848 GBIF-datapoints)
The Japanese shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus originates from the Pacific Northwest but was brought to Europe in ship’s ballast water or attached to the hull. In 1999, the species was observed for the first time in Europe (France and the Netherlands). In 2006, it was observed in Belgium, in Knokke-Heist and Nieuwpoort. The Japanese shore crab and the related brush-clawed shore crab Hemigrapsus takanoi are abundantly present along our shore, both in the intertidal area and deeper in the sea. There is no doubt that these exotic species affect our local systems, although there are no conclusive studies as yet. They are both predators of all kinds of invertebrates and compete with the native crab fauna.