Brush-clawed shore crabs are new in Dutch seas. They come originally from eastern Asia. They probably arrived here in the 1990s with a cargo of Japanese oysters, intended for the French Atlantic coast. In 1994, the very first specimen was discovered in the French La Rochelle. The first specimen found in the Netherlands was in 2000. Brush-clawed shore crabs rapidly spread and now live everywhere in the Zeeuws Delta and the Wadden Sea. Young specimen are often found on mussel banks. Male brush-clawed shore crabs can be recognized by the bristly hair on the pincers.