This crab is distributed in the entire Mediterranean.
It lives in waters of different salinity, including salt-pans, where it feeds, in the shallow water of salt-pan basins, on small crustaceans, gastropods, bristleworms and even small fishes, while the crab itself is much desired prey of aquatic birds. At the Sečovlje salt-pans, the Marine Crab is common in smaller and larger channels, salt pools and basins.