The European Green Crab is a small shore crab who is native to the northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. The European Green Crab is a very effective predator who is highly skilled at opening bivalve shells. They have become a globally damaging invasive species that poses a threat to native shellfish, eelgrass, and estuary habitat critical for salmon and many other species. This species was first discovered on the West Coast in 1989 and then on the Washington Coast in 1998 in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. Free floating larvae can easily get into ships ballast water, which is likely how they were transported to their non-native regions.