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Edible Crabs of the United States

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Edible Crabs of the United States EDIBLE CRABS OF THE UNITED STATES by George H. Rees FISHERY LEAFLET 550 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES CONTENTS Page Introduc tion ....................................................... 1 Natural Hi story ................. ................................. 2 Molting and gr0wth .......................................... 2 Reproduction and development .••..•••...••.••..•••.•.••.• 3 Autotomy and regeneration of lost legs .••••••••..••..•• 3 Commercially important crabs .•••••••.•••.••.••••••••••••.. 4 Atlantic and Gulf coast crabs ..••••. •...•.••••••••.••••.•.• 4 Blue crab .................................................... 5 Stone crab ...................... ............................. 6 Rock crab and Jonah crab ..•............................ 8 Green crab .................................................. 10 Deep Sea red crab ....... ................................. 11 Samoan crab ................................................ 1 1 Pacific coast and Alaska crabs •.•••.•••••••.•••.••••..•. 12 Dungeness crab ............................................ 12 King crab .................................................... 14 Tanner crab ................................................ 15 Hawaiian crabs ............................................... 16 Kona crab ................................................... 16 Other specie s .............................................. 17 References ........... ............................................ 17 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Stewart L. Udall, Secretary James K. Cttrr, Unde.r Secretary Frank P . Briggs, Assistant Secretary jor Fish and Wildlife FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, Clarence F. Pautzke, Commissioner BUREAU OF CO MMERCIAL FISHERIES, Donald L. McKernan, Director Washington, D.C. December 1963 EDIBLE CRABS OF THE UNITED STATES by G org H . R e Fi h ry Blo10 1 (Re arch) Bureau of Comm rCl 1 Fl h n U.S. Fl h nd Wlldllfe Servic B aufort, orth C rolln INTRODUCTION v ry Impor n comm r e l kmg c r b of Al k , I 1 0 Cr b memb rs of th Crust cea hI ord r . (from L tln cru sta, hard sh 11), a cl s of th gre t mv rt br t phylum Arthropod (from Gr k arthron. joint + pou . foo ), am­ All cr b po flve m 1 lth J01nt d legs nd a hard n d th p 1 r 1 lw y out r COy rlng, or xo ke1 ton. iost Wl h In cru tace n are quatlc nlm Is, and on b of th dlstlnguishlng char ct nstlcs of th m n Th cl s 1 that they br th by means of gllls. e Th memb r of the other cl ses of culhn Arthropoda, uch s th insect, spid r , Wlm r nd c nt1ped r e entl lly terre tri I mm 1 . Crustace ns r the rthropod th t oft n arm 1n th se s the In ct rm on I nd, nd th r 1 h rdly w y r of hfe m the se not followed by some A record m mber of th1 dlver died cl 5 . of h re r m ny order 1n the cl • Cr b b long to the order (from Gre k drka. t n pou . foot), hlCh r f r to the f ct th t th of th1 ord r have of other f mih r dec the hnmp , pr wn , c r yf1 he , n and The order 1 further d1v1ded mto uborder , 15 mche nd 11 the b re placed in the (from Greek b achy , hort n me 1 quit ppro- for h bdomen, n p th t 1 folded ubord r 1 ( 7) The oys ter crab and i t s clo s e r e latives strengthen e d b y the deposition of calcium ( are member s of a g r oup c ommo n l y k nown salt s . as pea crabs, so called b~cause t heir bodies are about the size of peas. T he Whil e the hard s hell o f the crab forms majority of the larger specie s o f cla m s a fine s et of external a rmo r , i t a lso l i m i ts are subject to invasion by some species t he si z e of t h e a n i m a l inside . For a crab of pea crabs. The oyster ' s mantle cavit y, t o i ncre ase in size, i t must per i odically through which a current of water flows, shed i ts r i g i d oute r cove ring and form a is an ideal habitat. Refuge is provided, new o n e . T h is proce ss i s called molti ng and food and oxygen are brought to the crab or ecdys i s. Pri or to molt, a new, soft by the ho st. Although most pea crabs living exoskel e ton i s formed i nside, a n d t he old in clams and mussels apparently do not shell beco m e s l o ose n e d. A s the c r a b b e gins harm their hosts, the oyster crab does to m o lt, the car apace , or back she ll, i s damage the gill tissues of the oyster; lifted, revealin g a g a p bet ween i t and t h e thus there is some justification for calling abdomen. The s hell splits on eit h er s i de it a parasite . of the under s u r face, and the p o ste r i or part of the crab begins to protrude . O ve r a period of a f ew minut e s, the crab com­ NATURAL HISTORY plete s t he p rocess, g r adually bac king out o f the old shell (fig. l ). Molting and Growth I mmediat e l y after molting, the s hell i s One of the dist inguishing characteristics soft and wrinkled; t his t hin a n d e lasti c of the phyl um A rthropoda is the pre sence new cuticle allows t he b ody to expand and of an all- enveloping exoskelet on, composed g r ow in size. Growth in size of the ani m a l basically of a mate r ial called chitin. In re sults from the copious i nta k e o f w ate r crabs, this chitinous exoskel eton is fu r ther a fter molting, with a cons equ e nt increa s ~ Figu re 1.--Molting. A blue crab is shown "backing out" of its old shell. 2 in the volume of the body fluid. As a re­ may be quite bulky and noticeable, is often sult, the new cuticle becomes stretched, referred to as the" sponge". The eggs are and the animal is considerably larger than carried until the y hatch, and during this before the molt. time the female i s called a " sponge crab" or a "berry crab" (fig. 2). In the soft shell state, the crab is prac­ tically helpless and is vulnerable to attack As in most Crustacea, the young of nearly by its enemies. Since many crabs are all crabs hatch as larvae that are quite cannibalistic, these enemies often turn out unlike thei r parents. The first larval form, to be members of its own kind. During the known as a z o ea (fig. 3), is a minute, trans­ molting process the crab seeks some parent organism that swims at, or near, secluded spot where it is safe from attack the surface cf the sea. It has a rounded until the new shell becomes rigid. The new body, often armed with long spines, and a covering soon hardens by chemical change, long, s e gme nted abdomen . The eyes are some of which is brought about by ex­ ve r y large in proportion to the body and posure to the water, and the crab is usually are not on stalks as they are in the adult. able to resume its normal activities within The legs a re not yet developed, and the a matter of hours after molting. swimming appendages are actually the future mouthparts of the crab. The number of times that a crab molts , during i ts lifetime, and the length of time After molting several t imes as it grows betwee n molts, var ies among species and i n size, the zoea passes int o a second I is affected by such factors as t e mperature larval form called the megalops (fig. 4). and the amount of food a vailable . In gene ral, In the megalops stage, the body and limbs as the crab i ncreas es in size through suc­ are more crablil:e, but the abdomen is cessive molts, the length of time between still large and not folded under. At this molts be..:omes progressively longer. In stage, the larva may either swim, or some specie s, an upper limit of size is c rawl about on the bottom on recently eventu ally reached and molting stops. O ther developed true legs. specie s continue to grow throughout life, even though molts occur less and less The m egalops molts directly to the "fir st frequently. crab" stage, a form closely resembling the adult. This is the last molt during which Reproduction and Development any major changes in appearance occur. Mating in crab s generally takes place There are a few crabs, especially those soo after the female has molted, often living in fresh water, which do not have while she is still in the soft- shelled any f ree-swimming larval forms. In these , state. At this t ime, the male transfers the young emerge from the egg as minia­ spermatozoa to the seminal receptacles ture adults. of the f e male where they remain until e gg laying begins. Some crabs, such as the Autotomy, and Regeneration of Lost Legs blue crab of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, mate only once . The female receives e nough Crabs often lose one or more legs during spermatozoa at this one mating to fertilize a lifetime and, unless they have reached a all the eggs which she will l ay i n her l ife­ stage where they no longer molt, are able time, some of w hich may be produced a to r e place these with new limbs.
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