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Cancer pagurus, commonly known as the edible crab or brown crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and perhaps the Mediterranean Sea. It is a robust crab of a reddish-brown colour, having an oval carapace with a characteristic "pie crust" edge and black tips to the claws. A mature adult may have a carapace width up to and weigh up to . C. pagurus is a nocturnal predator, targeting a range of molluscs and crustaceans. It is the subject of the largest crab fisheries in Western Europe, centred on the coasts of the Ireland and Britain, with more than 60,000 tonnes caught annually.
The first pereiopod is modified into a strong cheliped (claw-bearing leg); the claw's fingers, the arthropod leg and propodus, are black at the tips. The other pereiopods are covered with rows of short stiff ; the dactylus of each is black towards the tip, and ends in a sharp point.
From the front, the antennae and are visible. Beside these, the orbits are where the compound eye are situated. The mouthparts comprise three pairs of , behind which are a pair of maxillae, a pair of maxillules, and finally the mandibles.
The first developmental stage after hatching is a larva (1 mm) called the zoea that develops into a postlarva (megalopa), and finally a juvenile. The first juvenile stage is characterised by a well-developed abdomen, which in time becomes reduced in size and folded under the sternum. Juveniles settle to the sea floor in the intertidal zone, where they stay until they reach a carapace width of , and then migrate to deeper water. The growth rate in males slows from an increase in carapace width of 10 mm per year before it is 8 years old, to 2 mm per year thereafter. Females grow at about half the rate of males, probably due to the energetic demands of egg laying. Sexual maturity is reached at a carapace width of in females, and in males. Longevity is typically 25–30 years, although exceptional individuals may live up to 100 years.
Adults of C. pagurus are Nocturnality, hiding buried in the substrate during the day, but foraging at night up to from their hideouts. Their diet includes a variety of (including the crabs Carcinus maenas and Pilumnus hirtellus, the Porcellana platycheles and Pisidia longicornis, and the squat lobster Galathea squamifera) and Mollusca (including the Gastropoda Dog whelk and Littorina littorea, and the Bivalvia Ensis, Blue mussel, Cerastoderma edule, Ostrea edulis, and Lutraria lutraria). It may stalk or ambush motile prey, and may dig large pits to reach buried molluscs. The main predator of C. pagurus is the octopus, which even attacks them inside the crab pots that fishermen use to trap them. (2025). 9780761472667, Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9780761472667
A number of legal restrictions apply to the catching of C. pagurus. Catching "berried" crabs (females carrying eggs) is illegal, but since ovigerous females remain in pits dug in the sediment and do not feed, fishing pressure does not affect the supply of larvae. Minimum landing sizes (MLSs) for C. pagurus are set by both the European Union technical regulations and by the UK government. Different minimum sizes are employed in different geographical areas, to reflect differences in the crab's growth rate across its range. In particular, the "Cromer crab" fishery along the coasts of Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire is subject to an MLS of , rather than the MLS in most of the species' range. An intermediate value of is used in the rest of the North Sea between the 56°N and the Essex–Kent border, and in the Irish Sea south of 55°N. Around Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly, the MLS for males is different () from females (). The Norwegian catch is 8,500 tons annually, compared to 20,000 tons in the United Kingdom, 13,000 tons in Ireland, 8,500 tons in France, and a total 45,000 tons globally. Recent studies have shown that edible crabs are negatively affected by electromagnetic fields emitted from sub-sea power cables around offshore wind farms.
Although the genus Cancer formerly included most crabs, it has since been restricted to eight species. Within that set of closely related species, the closest relative of C. pagurus is the Jonah crab, C. borealis, from the east coast of North America.
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