📸 PhotoPhoto: Christian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Chinese mitten crab
Eriocheir sinensis (Chinese mitten crab · チュウゴクモクズガニ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its average maximum carapace width of 80 mm is slightly shorter than the long side of a credit card (about 8.6 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Animal Diversity Web explains that the Chinese mitten crab is eaten as a delicacy in Asia and is also used as eel fishing bait, a cosmetic ingredient, and fertilizer. In Korea, it is recorded around the Han and Imjin rivers (Gimpo and Paju).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Chinese mitten crab spends most of its life in freshwater and brackish water of rivers and estuaries before migrating down to the sea to breed. In Korea, it is recorded from the Han River, the Imjin River, and Buan in Jeollabuk-do.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its carapace is a rounded square 5–6 cm wide with 4 tooth-like projections on the forehead. Its claws are densely covered with hair and white-tipped, looking as if it is wearing mittens, and its legs are long, about twice the carapace width. The abdominal segments are V-shaped in males and U-shaped in females.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is omnivorous, eating mainly plants when young and also preying on small invertebrates. Adults migrate down to the sea in summer and autumn to breed, and both males and females die after reproduction. During migration, they can walk over banks and other obstacles.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
The National List of Species of Korea states that the Chinese mitten crab inhabits the Han River and Imjin River in Gimpo and Paju, as well as Buan in Jeollabuk-do. It lives on river bottoms or in mountain streams connected to the sea and migrates to the sea in autumn to breed.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • marinespecies.org — aphia.php
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000048890 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000048890
- • wikidata.org — Q823941
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:EriocheirSinensis1.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Eriocheir sinensis
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • sealifebase.se — Eriocheir-sinensis.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Polina Drozdova · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.