Tasmanian giant crab

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Tasmanian giant crab
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Suborder: Pleocyemata Infraorder: Brachyura Superfamily: Xanthoidea Family: Menippidae Genus: Pseudocarcinus Species: P. gigas
Binomial name
Pseudocarcinus gigas Lamarck, 1818

The Tasmanian giant crab, sometimes known as the giant deepwater crab, giant southern crab and queen crab, is a species of crab that occurs in the southern waters of Australia on the edge of the continental shelf at a depth of 30-820 m, and one of the largest crabs in the world, reaching a mass of 13 kg and a carapace width of up to 46 cm.

The species has been commercially exploited in Tasmanian waters since 1992, as of 2003 the annual harvest is 100 tonnes, with the landed valued estimated to be about AUD 3 million.

[edit] Reference

• Giant crab fishery