Crabby on the East Coast

The Japanese shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus), already found from the coast of North Carolina up through Massachusetts, has quickly made its way to Penobscot Bay in Maine. According to this report from the Environment News Service, this invasive species, known in the U.S. since the late 1980's, is even more aggressive than the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) that already inhabits the east coast of the U.S. This story is quite similar to the problems on the West coast with the Chinese mitten crab.