# Atlantic Rock Crab

*Cancer irroratus*

They are often confused with Jonah crabs, but the Rock Crab is distinguished by its smoother shell edge with nine shallow teeth on either side of the eyes.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Malacostraca › Decapoda › Cancridae › Cancer
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** aquatic
- **Habitat:** Rocky intertidal zones, sandy bottoms, and kelp forests up to 600 meters deep.
- **Diet:** Opportunistic scavenger and predator; consumes mussels, snails, sea urchins, and polychaete worms.
- **Range:** Northwest Atlantic Coast, Canada, United States, Iceland
- **Size:** Carapace width up to 15 cm
- **Lifespan:** 5-8 years
- **Active:** nocturnal
- **Threats:** Commercial harvesting, heavy predation by cod and gulls, and ocean acidification affecting shell calcification.
- **Safe to approach?:** Generally harmless but will pinch defensively if handled. Observe from a distance. If pinched, remain calm and place the crab back into the water to encourage it to release; wash any skin breaks thoroughly.

## About

Cancer irroratus (common name the Atlantic rock crab or peekytoe crab ) is a crab in the genus Cancer . It is found from Iceland to South Carolina at depths up to 2,600 ft (790 m), and reaches 133 mm (5.2 in) across the carapace.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/928efddb-039d-46b9-bfb3-99a22bbcf463
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53739
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer irroratus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/82229054/medium.jpeg (Leïla Brunner, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.