PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Officials are asking those in the Pacific Northwest to keep a lookout after a highly invasive species of crab with a noteworthy feature was spotted on the Oregon Coast.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a commercial fisherman caught what officials identified as a Chinese mitten crab last week in the Lower Columbia River, east of Tongue Point.

Named for their distinctive furry claws, mitten crabs can vary in color from a brownish-orange to a greenish-brown, according to the department.

Officials said the fisherman “did the right thing” by bringing it in since they are not only invasive but also prohibited in Oregon.

“Mitten crabs caused significant infrastructure and ecological damage in and around San Francisco Bay when the population was at its height in the late 1990s,” a spokesperson with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

Chinese mitten crabs have also been reported in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Bay, New York’s Hudson River, along the Gulf Coast and within the Great Lakes. The crabs, native to China and South Korea, live in freshwater but reproduce in saltwater, according to California wildlife officials.

Officials said the crab found in the Columbia River was a large male that could have been introduced illegally into the river by a person or by ballast water from a ship, which sometimes carries aquatic organisms to new locations.

The department said that this is a notable first, as Chinese mitten crabs have not been seen in the Pacific Northwest until now. However, a single Japanese mitten crab was found in the same area in 1997.

Given this, officials are encouraging river-goers to keep an eye out for mitten crabs and report any found to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife along with photos and location.

Area residents and visitors can also report a sighting online to the Oregon Invasive Species Council.