The early summer waves brought in waves after wave of larger-than-anticipated jellyfish blooms weeks ago, but there might be a new marine critter to worry about – except this one might give you a different sort of sharp sting.

“There’s no stopping this invader,” biologist and environmentalist Dr Alan Deidun told Lovin Malta. “The blue swimmer crab (Portunus pelagicus), native to the west Indian Ocean (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and the Red Sea, was first recorded from our waters in the early 1980s and then again in 2015.”

Since then, things have only gotten worse

“It is literally booming in our waters, with individuals being caught in shallow waters all along the south-eastern coast of Malta, stretching all the way from Birżebbuġa and Marsaxlokk up to St. Julian’s,” he said.

As far as invasive species go, at least this one is edible

“It is caught by the boatload in Tunisia and it is consumed in some Mediterranean countries, such as Israel and Lebanon,” Dr Deidun said.

We’re not saying you should get out to Malta’s East coast and start hunting blue swimmer crabs down, but if you do, here’s a handy video on how to catch them, and how to prepare them for cooking.

Tag someone who loves crabs!

READ NEXT: 8 Kickass Animals That Can Only Be Found In Malta

Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]