In the present work, crab shell was used as the biosorbent to remove copper from aqueous solution. Batch experiments were performed at different initial copper concentration of copper solutions (1-40 g/l), initial pH (2-9), temperature (20-400°C), and biosorbent dosages (2-10 g/l). The maximum removal of copper using crab shell occurred at a pH of 3 and at a temperature of 400°C using an optimum biosorbent dosage of 5 g/l. A mathematical model was proposed to identify the effects of the individual interactions of these variables on the biosorption of copper. The results have been modeled using response surface methodology using a Box-Behnken design. The response surface method was developed using three levels (-1, 0, +1) with the above mentioned four factors. The second order quadratic regression model fitted the experimental data with Prob > F to be < 0.0001. The experimental values were found to be in good agreement with the predicted values, with a satisfactory correlation coefficient of R2= 0.9999. © 2010 The Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.