Blue crab

Callinectes sapidus

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Blue_crab_on_market_in_Piraeus_-_Callinectes_sapidus_Rathbun_20020819-317.jpg

 

• Distinguishing characteristics:  Blue crabs have greenish color with blue highlights.  They have strong claws and their back appendages are adapted for swimming.  They have three pairs of walking legs.  Males (jimmies) have a pointed apron that resembles the Washington monument while females’ (sooks) aprons are broader and resemble the Capital building.

 

In the Wild

• Habitat:  The blue crab is a bottom dweller that lives in all parts of the Bay at various life stages.
• Diet:  Blue crabs are very much opportunistic feeders meaning they will eat what they find including clams, oysters, dead fish, bristle worms, detritus and even other blue crabs.
• Predators:  Blue crab predators include croakers, birds such as herons, striped bass, turtles and humans.
• Size:  Blue crabs can get up to 9 inches long from point-to-point.
• Breeding:  Blue crabs mate in the middle Bay from May-October.  Females molt before mating and as a result the male will cradle the female after mating until her shell hardens.
• Life Span:  Blue crabs do not typically live longer than three years.

 

 

In the Aquatics Lab

• Diet:  We feed the crabs pieces of squid.
• Size:  The blue crabs here at Booker T. Washington range in size from about a 1.5 inches across to about 6 inches across.
• Quantity:  Booker T is home to 8 blue crabs.

 

 

Other information

• Virginia Regulations:  Blue crabs must be 5 inches across to be kept by a recreational crabber.
• Commercial Uses:  Blue crabs are caught and sold as food.