DECAPODA PRINT

Hand-drawn illustration of decapods commonly found in the North Atlantic and Irish sea.

This identification plate presents 9 decapods (Deca=ten, Poda=feet).

I chose to illustrate the ones you will most easily find in the rockpools and around the shores of the Irish Sea.
They are: the common squat lobster (a beautiful creature worth looking for), the velvet swimming crab (the red eyes are a warning, mind your fingers with this one), the common rockpool shrimp and the common hermit crab (both very friendly and easily found in most rockpools), the common European lobster (smaller ones can be found close to the shores, under rocks, again mind your fingers), the common prawn, the common shrimp (found in large rockpools with sandy bottoms), the common shore crab (not as fierce as other crabs and easier to handle), and the edible crab (no, the name is not an invitation for dinner, observe and replace gently in rockpool, thank you).

All decapods are listed with both their common names and scientific names.

This print is part of the set of 4 rockpool print which also includes the Asterozoa print and the Osteichthyes print. 

Two versions of this print exist, a coloured version and a black and white version.