This document summarizes various species of crustaceans and molluscs found along European coastlines and consumed as seafood. It describes the physical characteristics and habitat of spider crabs, brown crabs, velvet crabs, lobsters, barnacles, prawns, clams, mussels, and oysters. It also notes where some species are commonly fished or farmed for food.
2. Crustacean
Spider Crab
•We can find them on the Atlantic
European Coast and in the
Mediterranean Sea.
•They live in the rocky bottoms of
the shoreline, although some of
these species are migratory.
•Males are easily distinguished
from females because their claws
are bigger.
•In addition, the former shed their
carapace from time to time.
3. Crustacean:
Brown Crab/
Edible Crab
•They are found in the North Sea,
North of the Atlantic Ocean and
the Mediterranean Sea.
•As most of these species they are
nocturnal.
•Brown crabs are captured mainly
in France, in Brittany.
•Perhaps its most notable feature
is their very big and powerful
claws with a characteristic black
tip.
4. Crustacean:
Velvet Crab
•We can find them in all shoreline
of the European Atlantic Ocean
and the Mediterranean Sea.
•They are captured mainly in
England and Scotland where there
are lots because they prefer cold
waters.
•Their main predator is octopus, in
fact the velvet crab is used as bait
in the octopus fishing.
•Their lateral movement is very
characteristic of these kinds of
crabs.
5. Crustacean:
Spiny Lobster/Red
Lobster
•In Ireland, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa it is
called crayfish/crawfish.
•They are caught all around the
world because it is regarded a
delicacy in a lot of countries.
•They have spiny antennae but
not too much developed claws.
•Generally they are more or less
reddish but, although less known,
they can be greenish too.
Obviously their name then is
Green lobster and they are
imported from the west coast of
Africa.
6. Crustacean:
European Lobster
•Also called Common lobster as
opposed to Canadian and
American lobsters.
•They can be distinguished
through their colours. The
European lobster is bluish, in fact
in Asturias it is named Blue
lobster, and the Canadian lobster
has an orange hue.
•Their first pair of legs are two
powerful claws which must be tied
up so as to handle them.
7. Crustacean:
Barnacle/Neck Goose
Barnacle
•They can be found on the Pacific
Coast of North America, Chile and
the European Atlantic shoreline as
far as the north of Morocco.
•Barnacles grow in groups on rocks
and they prefer places with strong
waves so their capture is a very
dangerous work that most times
increases their prize.
• Although they are crustacean
they are filter feeder as mollusc.
•In Spain it is prized as a delicacy
and it is caught in Galicia and
Asturias. Barnacles are also eaten
in Portugal and France.
8. Crustacean:
Prawn King Prawn
There are a lot of species all around the world in
both fresh and salt water.
Their size is smaller than the king prawn and
their colour is grey when they are alive ,but they
turn red when they are cooked .
In American English they are named shrimps
.
The colour of this species is pinkish with
brown stripes across its body and its size is
between 12/15 cm.
In Spain the most prized king prawns are from
Huelva.
9. Molluscs:
Clam Cockle
The word clam is used as the general term for
bivalve and especially for the species that live
buried in the mud or sand in the United
States ,but not in the United Kingdom where
the term is referred to specific species of
clams.
In Galicia, the main seller in Spain, they are
sowed in the sand so it could be regarded as a
crop.
We can find them in sandy sheltered beaches
throughout the world.
They have rounded shells which are
symmetrical. Their ribbed shell is also a very
characteristic feature of these molluscs.
Sometimes this word is also given to other
small bivalves so they are known as True
cockles.
10. Molluscs
Mussel
•They can be found all around the
world, but they prefer cold seas.
•The mussels shell is black and its
shape is similar to a tear.
•They attached themselves to a
solid substrate which is normally
rock, but also ships, platforms and
anything that is in the sea.
•In addition, they are able to
reproduce easily so on some
occasions they can become a pest.
But generally these behaviours
have been used by men in order to
grow them.
•The structures for mussel farming
are known as “bateas”.
11. Molluscs:
Oyster Scallop
Also known as European flat oyster or mud
oyster, we can find them on the European
Atlantic Coast and the Mediterranean Sea, but
nowadays they also come from sea farming.
They are regarded as a delicacy and normally
they are associated with luxury.
The common way to eat them is uncooked
and only dressed with a bit of lemon.
Most species lie on sandy bottoms and when
they are in danger they are able to get away by
swimming.
Its shape looks like a fan and its shell is the
symbol of pilgrims who travel to Santiago de
Compostela.
