The Velvet Swimming Crab is a common and very widespread crab that can be found all around the English coast. It is also known as the Devil Crab or the Witch Crab because it has bright red eyes and because it can be quite aggressive. Smaller Velvet Swimming Crabs can be found hiding in crevices in shallow water and in rock pools and larger crabs can be found in waters as deep as eighty metres.

The Velvet Swimming Crab has a flat-shelled body which is a blue colour on top. However, most of the blue is hidden by short red-brown hairs which give the shell a velvety appearance and this is why it has its name the ‘Velvet Swimming Crab’. It has ten pairs of walking legs with the rear legs being flattened to help it to swim fast. It also has two large pincers on the first pair of legs which are also covered in fine velvety red-brown hair.

The female Velvet Swimming Crab lays orange coloured eggs which she carries on her underside until they are ready to hatch. The larvae hatch out around spring time and become part of zooplankton for a while before they settle on the seabed to develop into adult Velvet Swimming Crabs.