Blue crab

Callinectes sapidus · The blue crab is a swimming crab species native to the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and has since spread to waters worldwide.

Also called Atlantic blue crab, Chesapeake blue crab, Maryland blue crab.

Blue crab
Photo: Jarek Tuszyński / CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0
Blue crab
Photo: Jarek Tuszyński / CC-BY-SA-3.0 & GDFL, CC BY-SA 3.0
Blue crab
Photo: Holger Krisp, CC BY 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassMalacostraca
OrderDecapoda
FamilyPortunidae
GenusCallinectes
SpeciesCallinectes sapidus

Where it lives

Bays and estuaries from Nova Scotia to Argentina, including the Gulf of Mexico.

Fun facts

  • Female blue crabs may produce up to 2 million eggs in a single brood.
  • When cooked, the crab's shell turns from blue-green to a bright orange-red as its blue pigment breaks down.
  • Female blue crabs mate only once in their entire lives, during a single special molt.
  • A blue crab molts about 25 times over its lifetime, shedding its shell each time to grow bigger.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).