PICTURES: Monster crab is '˜biggest seen' by fishmonger

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, a monster crab has been pulled from the depths of the channel.
Simon Finch from Queen Street, Littlehampton with the mammoth crabSimon Finch from Queen Street, Littlehampton with the mammoth crab
Simon Finch from Queen Street, Littlehampton with the mammoth crab

When the colossal crustacean was hauled into the Riverside Fish shop in Pier Road, Littlehampton, on Friday, veteran fishmonger Simon Finch said he was ‘absolutely shocked’: “I have never seen one so big. It is the biggest crab I have ever seen in 20 years.”

The behemoth was caught six miles off the coast of Littlehampton and weighed seven pounds, with a foot-wide shell and a half a metre clawspan.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The average crab the 44-year-old sells is one pound in weight, and he believed this specimen was around 25 years old.

Simon Finch from Queen Street, Littlehampton with the mammoth crabSimon Finch from Queen Street, Littlehampton with the mammoth crab
Simon Finch from Queen Street, Littlehampton with the mammoth crab

The prize animal went on display for a short while in the shop’s tank, attracting the attention of many children.

Simon said: “A lot of people were going crabbing and the ones they catch are two or three inches, so they were absolutely gobsmacked at a crab like that.”

Unfortunately for the crab its fame was shortlived, as it was sold to a man for £30 who turned the crustacean into the centrepiece of a dinner party.

Simon said: “I’m sure he went down a storm.”

In the wild, crabs do not stop growing and can live to be 100 years old.