The Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is an invasive crustacean in the UK, first recorded in the River Thames in the 1930s. Native to East Asia, it has spread widely through ballast water and is now established in several UK river systems. This species poses ecological and economic threats, burrowing into riverbanks and destabilising them, preying on native species, and outcompeting them for resources. The crab's catadromous lifecycle, where adults migrate to the sea to spawn, adds to its invasive potential.
