Several Henslow’s swimming crabs have recently been spotted by fishermen at the Minquiers, a reef about nine miles south of Jersey.
It is believed to be the first local sighting of the crabs, which normally live in the western Mediterranean Sea and warmer parts of the Atlantic, for almost 40 years.
In a post on its Facebook page, the Société Jersiaise’s Marine Biology Section said: ‘[The] Henslow’s swimming crab (Polybius henslowi) is a rare crab which has been turning up in the Minquiers during the past couple of weeks.
‘It’s a mainly southern European species that lives up to its name by swimming at the sea surface, often in large numbers.
‘The last local report we’re aware of was in 1980 but we’ve had three reports this month from commercial fishers who have found them among floating weed.
‘It has already been a record year for sea hares (Aplysia spp), perhaps the swimming crabs are next in line.’
Huge swarms of the crab, which are almost circular and measure about 1.9 inches wide and 1.6 inches long, have been found off the coast of Spain and Portugal.
It feeds off a mixture of squid, fish and other crustaceans.
