Editing Cancer pagurus (section)

==Distribution and ecology==
[[File:Blue mussel clump.jpg|thumb|right|The [[blue mussel]], ''Mytilus edulis'', is a favourite food of ''C. pagurus''.]]
''C. pagurus'' is abundant throughout the northeast Atlantic as far as [[Norway]] in the north and [[North Africa]] in the south, on mixed coarse grounds, mud, and sand from the shallow [[sublittoral]] to depths around {{convert|100|m|ft fathom|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Marlin"/> It is frequently found inhabiting cracks and holes in rocks, but occasionally also in open areas. Smaller specimens may be found under rocks in the [[littoral zone]].<ref name="ARKive">{{cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_marine/Cancer_pagurus/more_info.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226195347/http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_marine/Cancer_pagurus/more_info.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 26, 2004 |title=Edible crab (''Cancer pagurus'') |publisher=[[ARKive]] |access-date=September 16, 2010}}</ref> Unconfirmed reports suggest that ''C. pagurus'' may also occur in the Mediterranean Sea and [[Black Sea]].<ref name="BIOTIC"/>

Adults of ''C. pagurus'' are [[Nocturnality|nocturnal]], hiding buried in the substrate during the day, but foraging at night up to {{convert|50|m|ft|round=50|abbr=on}} from their hideouts.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Basic movement pattern and chemo-oriented search towards baited pots in edible crab (''Cancer pagurus'' L.) |author1=K. Skajaa |author2=A. Ferno |author3=S. Lokkeborg |author4=E. K. Haugland |journal=[[Hydrobiologia]] |volume=371–372 |issue=Advances in Invertebrates and Fish Telemetry |pages=143–153 |year=1998 |doi=10.1023/A:1017047806464 |s2cid=22768873 |editor=J.-P. Lagardère, M.-L. Béhout Anras G. Claireaux}}</ref> Their diet includes a variety of [[crustacean]]s (including the crabs ''[[Carcinus maenas]]'' and ''[[Pilumnus hirtellus]]'', the [[porcelain crab]]s ''[[Porcellana platycheles]]'' and ''[[Pisidia longicornis]]'', and the [[squat lobster]] ''[[Galathea squamifera]]'') and [[Mollusca|molluscs]] (including the [[Gastropoda|gastropods]] ''[[Dog whelk|Nucella lapillus]]'' and ''[[common periwinkle|Littorina littorea]]'', and the [[Bivalvia|bivalves]] ''[[Ensis]]'', ''[[Blue mussel|Mytilus edulis]]'', ''[[Cerastoderma edule]]'', ''[[Ostrea edulis]]'', and ''[[Lutraria lutraria]]''). It may stalk or ambush motile prey, and may dig large pits to reach buried molluscs.<ref name="BIOTIC"/> The main [[predator]] of ''C. pagurus'' is the [[octopus]], which even attacks them inside the crab pots that fishermen use to trap them.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Maurice Burton |author2=Robert Burton |year=2002 |title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]] |isbn=978-0-7614-7266-7 |chapter=Edible crab |pages=741–742 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0gsPc5lk7_UC&pg=PA741}}</ref>

=== Diseases ===
Compared to other commercially important crab species, relatively little is known about diseases of ''C. pagurus''.<ref name="Stentiford">{{cite journal |author=Grant D. Stentiford |year=2008 |title=Diseases of the European edible crab (''Cancer pagurus''): a review |journal=[[ICES Journal of Marine Science]] |volume=65 |issue=9 |pages=1578–1592 |doi=10.1093/icesjms/fsn134|doi-access=free }}</ref> Its parasites include [[virus]]es, such as the [[white spot syndrome]] virus, various [[bacteria]] that cause dark [[lesion]]s on the [[exoskeleton]], and ''[[Hematodinium]]''-like [[dinoflagellate]]s that cause "pink crab disease".<ref name="Stentiford"/> Other microscopic [[pathogen]]s include [[fungi]], [[microsporidia]]ns, [[paramyxea]]ns, and [[ciliate]]s. ''C. pagurus'' is also targeted by [[animal|metazoan]] parasites, including [[Trematoda|trematodes]] and parasitic [[barnacle]]s.<ref name="Stentiford"/> A number of [[Sessility (zoology)|sessile]] animals occasionally settle as [[epibiont]]s on the exoskeleton of ''C. pagurus'', including barnacles, [[sea anemone]]s, [[Serpulidae|serpulid]] [[polychaete]]s such as ''[[Janua pagenstecheri]]'', [[bryozoa]]ns, and [[Anomia (bivalve)|saddle oysters]].<ref name="Stentiford"/>