An olive-green Asian crab with hairy pincers that has been introduced into Europe, where it lives in fresh water and estuaries and can become a pest.
Eriocheir sinensis, family Grapsidae
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For the many children participating it was a good opportunity to get close to mitten crabs, shrimp, fresh water mussels and even eels, as well as to a lot of deliciously slithery mud!
According to this report, Chinese mitten crabs are recent marine invaders believed to have arrived via the ballast water of vessels from the Far East.
The mitten crab was first recorded in the River Aller near Weser in Germany, but has since spread throughout northern Europe as well as North America.
In Asia the mitten crab is considered a delicacy.
As we wandered around the first section of the aquarium, peering into tanks and adoring the cuddly-looking mitten crab, we discovered a tank that seemed to have nothing in it.