Homarus gammarus is traditionally " highly esteemed " as a foodstuff and was mentioned in " The Crabfish " a seventeenth century English folk song . It may fetch very high prices and may be sold fresh , frozen , canned or powdered . Both the claws and the abdomen of H. gammarus contain " excellent " white meat , and most of the contents of the cephalothorax are edible . The exceptions are the gastric mill and the " sand vein " ( gut ) . The price of H. gammarus is up to three times higher than that of H. americanus , and the European species is considered to have a better flavour .