The Antarctic coastline is home to some species, like marine worms and sea stars. These soft-bodied species are capable of surviving in cold waters of Antarctica. A study found that shell-crushing crabs have started invading the continent. Rising water temperatures off the coast of Antarctica are responsible for the invasion, according to the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study by Richard Aronson, a biological sciences professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, and other researchers found that weather conditions in Antarctica are favorable for invasion by shell-crushing crabs. The crabs, well known for feeding on animals with soft bodies, could affect the local ecology, the study warned.

King crabs live on the bottom of an ocean. Red king crabs are able to grow to huge sizes. They can be seen in oceans around the globe, but earlier, too cold weather conditions in Antarctica were not favorable for the crab species. According to the study, temperatures in Antarctica are rising, making conditions favorable for king crabs.

In recent years, researchers have found that king crabs were living in the waters over the Antarctic continental slope off the western Antarctic Peninsula. Water is cold in the region, but still favorable for the crabs. The researchers do not know how long the crabs have been living there, but they think the crabs might have moved some years ago. According to Aronson, “it’s not wholly surprising that they’ve shown up in the area”.

King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.