Beach walkers have been urged to keep a lookout for invasive blue crab after a recent sighting in Dublin Bay.

As the Irish Examiner reports, the National Biodiversity Day Centre says a specimen was found on Dollymount Strand on 15 February, with a claw from the same species found on the same beach this past Tuesday (9 March).

It marks the first sighting of the crab, which is native marine wildlife on the US east coast, in Irish waters — though it has become established as an invasive species in the Mediterranean.

It’s as yet unknown whether the blue crab originated from the food trade, came as a stowaway in a ship’s hull or arrived by other means.

But the situation has prompted a call for vigilance by the public walking in coastal areas around Ireland — and for photographic evidence of any possible sighting.

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.