Commercial-fisheries
Guides
Crangonidae
crangonid shrimps, sand shrimps, brown shrimps
Crangonidae is a family of marine shrimp in the superfamily Crangonoidea, containing 24 genera and including the commercially important species Crangon crangon, the common brown shrimp. Members are primarily benthic, inhabiting coastal to deep-water sediments. The family is distinguished by partially chelate first pereiopods used in prey capture. Two fossil species are known: Crangon miocenicus from the early Miocene of Russia and Morscrangon acutus from the early Eocene of Denmark.
Lithodidae
King Crabs, Stone Crabs
Lithodidae is a family of large, cold-water decapod crustaceans commonly known as king crabs or stone crabs. Members possess a crab-like body form within the otherwise hermit crab-associated infraorder Anomura, representing an independent evolutionary transition to the crab morphology. The family includes commercially important species such as the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) and encompasses both deep-water and intertidal habitats across cold seas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Pandalidae
pandalid shrimp
Pandalidae is a family of caridean shrimp commonly known as pandalid shrimp, characterized by two distinctive morphological features: a subdivided carpus on the second pereiopod and the absence of chelae (claws) on the first pereiopod. Members of this family are predominantly cold-water species, with tropical representation occurring primarily through deep-sea forms. The family holds significant commercial value, as many species are edible and support important fisheries. The genus Physetocaris, formerly included in Pandalidae, has been reclassified into its own family Physetocarididae.
Portunidae
Swimming Crabs
Portunidae is a family of true crabs distinguished by their swimming ability, conferred by flattened fifth pereiopods modified into paddles. The family includes economically significant species such as the blue crab (*Callinectes sapidus*) and the velvet crab (*Necora puber*). Members are typically fast, aggressive predators with strong, sharp claws. Several species have become invasive outside their native ranges, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea via Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal.