It is found along the entire coast of Norway, including Svalbard, ranging south into the North Sea and Kattegat, the northern half of the British Isles (with a few records off southwest England), and around the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and off south-eastern Greenland.

[1][4][5] In the West Atlantic, it ranges from the Davis Strait between Greenland and Canada south to The Carolinas in the United States.

[5] Like most king crabs, females are asymmetrical, with the left side of the abdomen considerably larger than the right, although specimens with the reverse of this are occasionally found.

[7] The low rate of egg production by this species, in comparison to species fished in the North Pacific, limits its abundance, making it unsuitable for commercial exploitation.

[8] Larval development is lecithotrophic and takes about 7 weeks at a constant temperature of 9 °C (48 °F).