An online shop has begun taking orders for wild hairy crabs imported from an unlikely place: Germany, local media reported Tuesday.

A shop on taobao.com, owned by a Suzhou, Jiangsu Province-based company, Dadiyuansheng Electronic Commerce Co, specializes in the seasonal delicacy, which is treasured across the Yangtze River Delta. The shop reported that it has received 26,384 orders for the crabs, which will be taken from the Elbe River in Germany. 

The species is not native to Germany. About 100 years ago, the hairy crabs were transported to the country, where - without a local predator - the species flourished to the point it became invasive. It hunted other species, damaged dams and ruined fishing nets, causing more than 80 million euros ($106.74 million) in damage, according to the news website people.com.cn. The wild crabs have reproduced quickly in Germany because the local people don't eat them.

The online shop has tried to capitalize on the fact that the crabs are wild by marketing them as cleaner than the crabs raised in the Yangtze River Delta.

An industry insider said that hairy crabs from Germany may not weigh as much as the ones raised in their native waters, the Xinmin Evening News reported. Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs - the most famous kind of hairy crabs produced in China - are expected to appear on the market around the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 19 this year.

The wild crabs from Germany will not hurt sales of the brand-name homebred hairy crabs, said Yang Weilong, president of the Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab Association in Suzhou.

The online shop said it will deliver the hairy crabs to customers in China within 48 hours after they are caught in Germany. It will ship the crabs from September 11 to September 17.

Eight hairy crabs from Germany cost 398 yuan ($64.99). The shop also sells Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, which cost 258 yuan for a batch of eight.

The shop said it will provide customers with documents that prove the crabs were imported from Germany, according to a customer service representative.